Choices, Choices part 1
by GuessWho-NopeGuessAgain
Summary: Moriarty gets a bit bored, which is never a good thing. He wants to spice up his little game with Sherlock, this is bad news for Elizabeth. (Warning, there will be violence and other mature themes! Like really mature and dangerouse themes.)
1. Chapter 1 - Choices

**Choices**

 **Summary:** Moriarty is bored, and that is never good for anybody. He decides to spice up his little game with Sherlock and get his hands dirty. He needs Elizabeth help for this.

 **Warning:** This chapter doesn't have abuse or other of such things but there will be violence, torture, etc in future parts! If you are easily triggered or don't like this stuff, do not **read this!**

 **Disclaimer:** I regret to inform you that I do not own Sherlock yet and that it is still in the hands of BBC. When I do get my hands on it, you will notice it through a shit ton of Johnlock. :)

 **Enjoy**

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 **Chapter 1**

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It had been an amazing day, she had just gotten back from Madam Tuso with her family and was heading towards the hotel. The vacation in London had been amazing so far, it was such an amazing city. A lot more interesting than Belgium. She was laughing and being rather childish with her brother and sister. Her parents were getting annoyed and told them to go to the lobby. She grinned and chased her younger sister down the stairs while her brother took the elevator. A few of the guest looked up at them, but let them be. It had been forever since they had gotten along like this, normally they were always fighting. They rarely played with all of each other. But this vacation it felt different, the stress of school and home had left them and they didn't mind the stares of the strangers. They finally arrived at the bottom of the stairs and were going to continue their little game when she was stopped by a rather tall man in a tailored blue suit. His black hair was neatly combed and his face was very pale, but not in a sickly way. He had sharp cheekbones and dark brown eyes. He didn't move out of the way and seemed to be studying her. She felt uncomfortable and moved in front of her siblings, her brother was a head taller than she but she still felt protective of him, he was her younger brother anyway.

She cleared her throat "Can I help you?" He smiled brightly. "No, I just have a tiny little question." She raised her eyebrow letting him know he could continue. The man didn't really look all that dangerous but something about her made her feel uneasy. He was smiling but the smile didn't reach his eyes, making him look like a shark. "Well, I was wondering if you would mind coming with me." "What?" "I asked you to come with me. Me and my friends need someone for the game" he asked, his tone was still light and happy but with a demanding tone, his eyes never leaving hers. "The hell is your problem. Leave us alone." she turned around to leave when he grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. Before her brother could do anything he moved his jacket to the side and showed them the gun. "I really don't want to cause a scene. Normally I don't even do any field work, but I had to make sure that this was handled right. Now be a good girl." She gave another pitiful attempt to pull away but was stopped when he pulled her into his chest. He leaned down and whispered in her ear "Wouldn't it be a shame if someone got hurt, Elizabeth?"

He said her name so slowly and with so much threat that she stopped right in her tracks. She stopped resisting and terror struck her in her heart. He knew her name. Pleased with the fact that she had decided not to fight him any more he turned to her brother. "Now, you will not call the police or tell anyone about this till in a half hour, and keep you little sister from talking to. If you don't do what I say, I promise you I will kill her and get another girl. Understood?" he had lowered his voice into a threatening whisper and she could see the panic in her brother's eyes as he nodded. "Great! Well goodbye!" he said cheerfully, waving at her siblings as he placed his arm around her shoulder. He led her outside without hesitation, smiling at the pacing visitors of the hotel. Elizabeth glanced back and could see her brother on the verge of having a panic attack, as he watched this strange man taking his sister with nothing he could do about it.

The man led her out the hotel and a little while later he stopped next to a slick black car. She could see a driver through the tinted window. "I bet you have a lot of questions Elizabeth." he dragged out her name as to taunt her with it. "You will get to ask questions later, but first I'll give you the choice like all the other girl I toke." At this she looked up, confused and afraid at what that statement could mean. "You see, you are not the first 16 year old I took, there were 4 kids before you and I let them all chose. Either they would come with me and they would feel the most horrible pain imaginable, or I let them go back to their hotel. I would let them go and never bother them or their families ever again as long as they kept their mouth shut, if they told anyone about the abduction I would kill them and everyone they cared about. So far all the girls have chosen to leave and let me pick a new victim. So what is it going to be?"

Her heart was beating in her chest trying to comprehend all of this. He was offering her a choice. She could leave and he would never bother her again. But if she left he would surely pick a new victim, another innocent girl to experience the worst pain imaginable. She couldn't let that happen. "Well, spit it out. What are you going to do?" "I, I,..." He growled annoyed, not wanting to anger him she quickly answered. "I am going to stay." "Perfect!" he cried out, smiling he slapped her on her back like old friends would. "Well then we better be going, I don't have all day the time. I still need to pick up my friends and set everything up." he continued excitedly as he led her into the back seat. She moved as far back form him as she could, pressing up against the far door of the car, but he just scooted next to her. He placed his hand on her knee threateningly, as if to warn her not to try anything stupid. "Put on your seat belt. Don't want to get into trouble right?" She tried to fasten her seat belt but her hands were shaking to hard. She started to panic. What if he punished her for not being able to put on her belt? She started to tug on it, only causing it to block. "A bit nervous? Don't worry, everybody is the first time they get kidnapped. Let me help you." his voice was soft, as if to comfort her, but it was still sharp. He placed his long slender hands on the belt and slowly pulled it out, he leaned over her entirely, almost covering her body with his. Her breath hitched, as the smell of his cologne filled her nose. He laughed at Elizabeth reaction. "There we go." he said when it gave a satisfying click. He patted her knee before leaving it there.

"Now, about those questions. We'll be in the car for a while, so go ahead. Ask away." She pushed herself deeper into the door, trying to keep her distance from him. He looked at her impatiently, but she couldn't form any words. "Come on then. Don't be boring. You won't like what I do to boring people." he threatened. Swallowing hard she opened her mouth. "Who are you?" "Ahah! Good first question! Well Elizabeth, do you know of the great Sherlock Holmes?" she nodded timidly. "Figures. Well, he is my friend. He might disagree, but we often play games together. I think he would refer to me as his arch enemy." Her heart stopped, and everything clicked. If this man was who he claimed he was, she highly doubted she would make it out of here alive. Much less unharmed. He seemed to have noticed your breath hitching as a small smile played around his lips. "You figured it out, haven't you? Well go on then. Tell the group." "Moriarty." it came out as a horse whisper but that was enough for him. He clapped his hands in a way a child would. "Correct! Surly that can't be your only question?" Knowing who her abductor was only made it worse. This was a master criminal who would not hesitate to kill her if given the chance. Not wanting to anger or provoke him she quickly asked another question.

"Why did you take me?" "Ah, as I told you before, I am planning to play a game with a friend. This friend being Sherlock Holmes. I have spiced it up before, including his precious doctor and such. But I needed something new, so what about another hostage, someone whose faith laid in his hands. I wanted it to be a girl, who wasn't too old, still a virgin but old enough to really understand what was going on." she let out a little whimper when he told her, he wanted a virgin, that couldn't mean anything good. But he ignored her and continued. "So the category was 16 year old girls. I wanted to make sure that the person wouldn't know my face, Sherlock must have 0 connections to. Preferably someone from a different country. I need some leverage, so younger siblings were a nice feature. And tadda, I had a victim pool. I choose my 10 favorite who were in the country at the moment and started to randomly pick." If she hadn't been in London, if she had just been in Belgium, then she wouldn't have been in this situation. The most ironic part of this was that she had chosen this year's vacation destination. If she had chosen any other country, she would have been safe.

Terrified she looked up from her lap. He was enjoying this, feeling her tremble under his hand and against his side. Listening to her shaking breaths. "What are you going to do to me?" she whispered. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer, but this was horrible, the not knowing. Throwing his arm around her and pulling her closer to him he spoke. "I can't ruin the surprise! That wouldn't be fun now would it?" He looked down at the shaking figure that he kept pressed against him. He had expected her to be crying by now, but she was holding up. However that would be for too long. "But I can give you a hint." he leaned in close, till she could feel his breath on her ear, making her shrink even further back. "I am going to hurt you, I am going to make them hurt you. You will feel the most horrible pain you have ever felt, until you beg for death. And even then, I will continue." he whispered softly. Finally she couldn't hold back. It was too much. With a little shake she let out a little sob, and started to cry. She buried her face in her hands as tears of terror started to roll down her face. She stayed quite, but her entire form was quivering. No matter how small she tried to make herself, his body stayed pressed against hers. When he placed his hand on her back she let out a little whimper. He rubbed her back in a soothing manner. With a mocking voice he said. "There there, everything will be alright." She could practically hear him grin as she shook.

His hands trailed up and down her back, while his other hand started to rub soothing circles on her leg. Slowly his hand started to move upwards on her leg, he trailed his long slender fingers up and down the inside of her leg, as a silent promise. For what was to come. He kept her tightly in his grip, almost possessively. "Please stop." She whimpered, barely audible. She knew it was futile, but she could stop the pitiful plea to leave her lips. "Oh darling. I haven't even started yet." he smiled.

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 **Chapter 2**

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The rest of the ride was just as horrible. From time to time he would chat. He would talk about things he had already done to people. About things that Elizabeth liked. Her favorite books and movies. He was showing of, he was taunting her. Making sure she knew, that he knew everything about her. The first time he dropped the name of one of Elizabeth's friends her heart stopped, but he just continued like it didn't matter. They were in the car for what seemed like hours and the entire time he didn't let go of her. Suddenly the car came to a stop and Moriarty moved away from her. She breathed in relief, at least he had let her go. It was a start right? However it was a matter of seconds before he opened her side of the car, she had still be leaning against it and nearly fell. However he caught her in time and drew her to his chest. She immediately pushed him away, not wanting to feel him anymore. "Aw come on, don't be childish." He growled and grabbed your arm, he dragged you towards a huge castle like house. It towered above them and all around there was forest. She knew that even if she managed to escape, which was highly unlikely, she would never be able to find her way out of the forest alone. The car had come from a small mud path, but at times she was rather sure the driver had just driven through the wild itself. He pulled her inside and she let out a horrified cry at the sight in front of her. There were 2 dead bodies. A woman and a man in there earlier 30. "Oh god, oh god, oh god." She felt like she was going to be sick. Both of them had been shot in the head and blood was pooling around them, they seemed to have been dead for a while as it stunk horrible. "Oh right, I was meaning to have that cleaned up. Oh well." He didn't seem to be even a little faced as he continued to pull her with him. They walked up two flights of stairs before they stood in what seemed like a bathroom.

It was white and nearly empty, expect for the bath, sink, toilet and chair. He took place on the chair and let her go. "Undress." "What?" The young girl whipped around, praying to god she had misheard him. "I said undress." She backed away until she felt the cold stone of the sink press in her back. "No." she retorted. "Listen here Elizabeth. Either you get undressed or I will undress you." He pulled out his gun, as if to prove a point. When she still didn't make a move to take of her clothes he jumped up, it seemed as if she had enraged him. She tried to duck under his arm and run away but he grabbed her by her brown hair and pulled her back. He grabbed your blue top and ripped it of her. She was shocked by his brutality and his strength and started to struggle. His hand was on the button of her jeans when she cried out. "No, please! I'll do it! I'll do it!" He let go again and sat down, recomposing himself, as if the attack had never happened. "Well go on then. Hurry up." She bend down and started to untie her shoe lasses and kicked of her black all stars. She peeled off her socks and stood back up. Hesitantly she started to undo her pants. Before pulling them down she looked up again pleading, hoping that maybe, just maybe, he would change his mind. But with a little gesture of his hand he demanded her to continue. She pushed down her jeans and stepped out of them, immediately covering herself nervously, she hoped that this would be enough for him. He didn't seem aroused, or anything. He seemed bored, she wasn't sure if that was a good sign. "Get on with it. I still have other things to do." She turned around, so she was looking away from him and took of her grey bra. He didn't seem to mind that she wasn't looking at him anymore. When she looked in the mirror at him, he wasn't even really looking at her. With shaking hands she hooked her fingers into her underwear and pulled them down, leaving her completely naked in front of him. "Great, now I am going to give you 15 minutes to shower, go to the toilet and get dressed." he said while he was picking up her clothes. Before Elizabeth could ask how she could get dressed without her clothes, he closed the door and left her. She turned around and saw that there was a little red dress on the chair, with black undergarments. She had to hold back a sob, at least he hadn't violated her, yet...

She stepped into the shower and started to wash herself, desperate to get his smell of. Suddenly she heard the door open and she froze. "8 more minutes." said the familiar and horrible voice before closing the door. She quickly rinsed herself and stepped out of the shower. She started to dry herself of, she quickly put on the bra and underwear, not wanting him to see her naked. They were clearly meant to be sexy and it terrified her that he knew her size. "You have 4 more minutes. Make sure you go to the toilet." it sounded like a threat, so she complied. Afterwards she slipped on her dress. It was tight and it had an open back, she let out a shiver when she looked into the mirror, she looked like some kind of sex doll. "Ready or not! Here I come!" said her kidnapper in a horrible sing song voice. He looked her up and down, and she felt the incredible need to cover herself up. "Great. Now all you need is some make-up and you will look perfect." He placed lipstick and mascara on the sink. "I know you don't wear make-up, but I am sure you will know how to apply this." Carefully she took the lipstick, it was bright red like her dress and put it on. Next she took the mascara, but her hands were shaking so much, she kept on messing it up. With a frustrated grown Moriarty got out of the chair and walked towards her. "Oh god no! Please, I will do it right." She was terrified that he would punish her but he just shushed her and pressed her against the sink. Pinning her body against the cold stone and his. With one hand he grabbed her face and with the other the mascara. "Hold still, and close your eyes." he hissed. His breath felt hot on her skin as he started to apply it. Once he was done he placed it back down and stepped back. "Done!" he grinned, yet again she noticed how fast his mood changed and it send shivers down her back. With a vice grip he took her hand and dragged her trough the corridors.

The floor was cold underneath her feet, he threw open a pair of wooden doors and she stopped in her tracks. The room was huge. It looked like a room out of the middle ages. The ground and floor were draped in a thick carpet which had abstract art forms all over it. Bright sunlight spilled through a huge window, on the wall opposite of the window there was a fire, crackling as it heated up the room. Next to the fire place there were two big, comfortable looking chairs. On the far end of the room there stood a bed, big enough for 3 men to lie comfortably on it. But those weren't the things that made her stand still. There were 3 cages in the room, they were tall and slim, with iron bars and had shackles hanging from them. Two of the cages stood next to each other in between the fire place and the window, the other one was stood just in front of the bed. In the cages there was a small metal box and a bowl.

Clearly displeased with her he forcefully dragged her forward towards the furthest cage. She tried to pull away but the Irish man was having none of it. He let go of her in front of the door and pulled out his gun, he didn't point it at her, but it was a clear warning. Don't be stupid. "Open the door." he commanded. Elizabeth turned and saw a key sticking in the cage, she unlocked it and pulled it open. "Go inside and put on the shackles." On the ground there were two chains tied to the shackles that were meant for her legs. It took a little while to put them on but she managed to figure out how to do it. "Tighter." he growled She fastened them until they nearly hurt. "Good, now your hands." Another pair of chains hung from the top of the cage, here to shackles hung for the end of them. She slipped her left hand in one and fastened it, then doing the same to her other hand. The chains were hanging loosely and allowed her movement, but he clearly put a stop to that. He put his gun away and stepped behind the cage, the end of the chains hung on some levers, he started to pull on them. First on the ones that were connected to her feet. She let out a surprised cry when they were yanked to the sides of the cage, when her feet were touching the cold bars on the far sides of the cage, he secured them. It was a very uncomfortable possession, and she found that she could do very little to make it better. But before she could even say something, he pulled the other two levers, these made her arms shoot up and to the sides. He continued to pull, till she was as stretched as she could. She let out a pained growl when he stopped pulling. She stood on her toes in eagle spread and her entire body was being forced to stay that way. "There we go. All nice and safe." he left the levers and returned to the bed. She forced her head to the side so she could get a glimpse of what he was doing.

He opened a previously unnoticed bag and took out a few objects, a piece of cloth, a metal collar and what looked like some kind of gag. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw these objects, wanting them nowhere near her. But he walked to the door of the cage without a care in the world, he held up the collar first. "You see this? This is to make sure you listen to what I say." he said while fastening it around her neck, tightly. "What, what does it do?" she managed to stutter, however she regretted asking this. He pulled out a little remote and pressed on a button. Immense pain shot through her body as he shocked her. "That." he said with a content grin. He took the cloth and brought it to her eyes. He stood behind her, pressed against her, as he tied it over her eyes. He placed his hands on her hips as he lingered there. Yet again she felt no sexual desire from him, only the wish to terrify her. He placed on of his hands on her jaw and applied pressure. "Open up." not wanting to get shocked again she complied. She felt him shove something plastic in her mouth and tied it to the back of her head. She had been right, it was a gag. "Now, Elizabeth. I am going to get a few friends of mine, you are going to be a good girl and be quiet. You are not going to cry, or the makeup is going to be ruined, you are not going to scream, because it is useless and annoying, and you are not going to struggle, because it will bruise your wrists and ankles. Alright sweetheart?" Elizabeth nodded frantically and flinched when he patted her cheek. She could hear him lock the cage, and heard a curtain being draw, just before he slammed the wooden doors closed he jelled "See you soon!"

And then he was gone, at first she was alone, in the dark and silence and was doing everything she could not to cry. She pulled on her chains, but the attempts were fruitless, she couldn't even get them to move. She tried yelling, but it came out as muffled cry, no one would hear her. She tried to concentrate on breathing and pushing the gag out, but it seemed impossible. She tried to keep it in, but found that she couldn't hold back a soft sob, that was cut short by the gag. Her body started to shake as she cried. It was too much, the darkness, the constant sting of the metal digging in her arms and legs, and the pressure on her neck form the collar. A half hour had most certainly passed since the abduction, it felt like it was ages ago that she was laughing in the streets of London with her family. Oh God, they must be so worried. Her poor brother and sister, they must have been so scared. Her poor parents, they wouldn't know what to do. Surly they had notified the police by now. But if the reputation of Moriarty was true, than they wouldn't find her unless he wanted them to. Did the police know who took her? They would find out soon enough. Would they tell her parents about Moriarty, about his reputation? How slim the chance was that they would get her back. Did her parents have the heart to tell her grandparents and family that she had been snatched by some master criminal and was now held by him. Did her friends know that she was somewhere in England, held by some creep that had promised her the worst pain imaginable. Would she ever get to see them again? Her mother, father, her brother or sister? Her grandparents? Her uncle, aunt and cousins? Her friends and teachers? She cried silently in the darkness, the only sound was of her crying and the crackling of the fire. What would he do to her?

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 **Chapter 3**

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She felt like she was alone forever when she heard the door swing open. Immediately she stopped crying and held her head up. She could here heavy footsteps enter the room. There were several people entering, for a second she hoped it was the police when she heard the cold Irish voice saying. "Would you close the door Doctor?" She shivered and held back a sob, hoping that he wouldn't notice that she had cried, but she knew the wet blind fold would give her away. "Now gentlemen. If you would be so kind to take a seat in the cages and put on the shackles?" he made it sound like a request but she knew he was pointing a gun at the men. She figured there were two men, seeing as he had told them to get in the cages. Probably Sherlock Holmes, and his trusty doctor John Watson. She heard the rattling of chains and wondered why the men hadn't asked who she was. Where they blindfolded? No, that couldn't be, how would they be able to chain themselves then? Did they know? Maybe they didn't care? Or was she hidden from sight? "What is the matter Sherlock? Why are you so quiet? I was hoping to have a chat with you?" So she had been right, it was them. "What do you want Moriarty?" the British voice was deep and treating, but was met with a chuckle.

"Getting right to business are we? Oh well. You see Sherlock, I wanted to play a game." "I thought we were already playing?" "Well yeah, but it was getting boring!" he said with a nagging tone "Always the same old thing. I mean, adding John was interesting but even that became boring!" he exclaimed. She heard a huff coming from the third man, she assumed that the Doctor disagreed with that statement. But Moriarty continued not caring "But I found a way to make it better!" he sounded like an exited kid, and it made her sick. "Do you want to guess?" His voice had fallen deep as if to challenge Sherlock. For a second there was silence before the detective spoke again. "Who is behind that curtain Moriarty?" Curtain? That was new information. "Who?" It was Dr. Watson who spoke this time. He sounded surprised and worried. "Yes John. Who?" sighed her attacker, as if he was bored with his stupidity. "Moriarty." it was demanding but clearly it didn't bother the criminal even a bit. "Fine fine! I guess you never were all that fond of surprises. He walked towards her and with a loud rattle she heard a curtain being pulled back. "Tada!" he cried out proud to show off his new toy.

She could hear a gasp when the men saw her, she couldn't see them but felt there gaze burning her. "What the hell Moriarty?" she could hear the voice of the John, but before he could continue Moriarty stopped him. "This lovely specimen is Elizabeth, and she is here to spice up the game." "She has nothing to do with the Moriarty! Let her go!" Suddenly her entire body convulsed as he sent a wave of electricity threw her frame. She let out a strangled yell. "Don't continue to annoy me Watson. She will pay dearly for it.""Moriarty." Sherlock demanded his attention "Leave her and John out of this. They are no fun, I thought we were going to play a game? Why do they need to be here?" "Oh Sherly, we need an audience and we were in dear need of a new play toy. Don't tell me you weren't bored. That you didn't want to step it up a little. See how far you can go?"

She heard him open the cage and desperately tried to move back but the chains kept her in place, she felt his soft touch over her blindfold and she took a sharp breath. "Don't you touch her!" but Moriarty couldn't care less about the doctors disapproval. He bent forward till his lips were milometers away from her face and he growled "I thought I told you not to cry." Before Elizabeth could react she felt to sharp punches in her lower abdomen, it knocked the air right out of her and she couldn't even double over. "Moriarty!" it was the detective, clearly not expecting the criminal to get physical. She was mumbling apologizes behind the gag. He ripped of the blind fold with some violence, she continued her rant of muffled sorrys as her eyes adjusted to the light. The fire seemed to be the main source as the sun was starting to set. It had been midday when he took her and now it was nearly dark, in the summer. How long had he had her? He let his fingers slide over her waist as he moved behind her to unclasp the gag. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to. Please." she huffed out gasping for air. "Don't disobey me again." he hissed before turning his attention to the other men. "Ordinary people can be so annoying! Especially the kids. But what are you going to do?"

She studied the men in the cages. They were chained, but there restraints were loose enough for them to move around. To her left was the smaller of the two, his blond hair had been messed up and his blue eyes were full of fury as his glaze was trained on Moriarty. There was a bruise forming on his right cheek, apparently he hadn't gone down without a fight, she was pleased to see that Moriarty had a small cut near his lip. Good. She turned her attention back to the blond, he was wearing a thin white shirt with little square figures and a black pants, he too had been stripped of his shoes and socks. The other man, Elizabeth she assumed that he was Sherlock, was considerable taller. His black curls were still in place, leading her to think Moriarty had approached him with doctor Watson as a hostage. He wore a plain white shirt and a black pants as well, he too was missing his shoes and socks. His blue greenish eyes were trained on Moriarty as well, but she caught a quick worried glance in her way. "I never thought you would stop this low as to abduct a young girl. I thought you had standards." he said icily calm. "Well clearly you haven't been paying attention then Mr. Holmes." he retorted mockingly. "It wouldn't be the first time kids have played a role in my games. Plus I didn't kidnap her, she agreed to come with me."

Elizabeth felt sick to her stomach when he said that, technically he wasn't lying. "What?" exclaimed John as they turned to her. Yet again Moriarty turned his attention to her as he placed an arm around her waist. Every hair on her body stood up as he pulled her closer, straining her arms and legs. "Tell them, pet." She swallowed hard. She didn't want to make eye contact with her fellow captives but, Sherlock's eyes didn't let hers go. "When he took me." it came out as a whisper, barely audible. "Come on darling, speak up." he said as his grip on her waist tighten. "When he took me. He gave me a choice. I could go back to the hotel. Have the rest of my vacation. He would not harm me or my family as long as I kept all of this to myself, but then he would take another girl. Or I could come with him." "And?" he edged on. "And I would feel the worst pain imaginable." she quickly dropped her eyes to the ground as Sherlock filled with pure rage. "That isn't a choice! And you know it!" yelled the doctor furiously "John." "What kid would sentence another kid to such horrors?" "John!" this time it was a little more urgent. "I mean who would do such a thing?" "JOHN!" "What Sherlock!" Before Sherlock could respond she explained, "He is trying to tell you that he kidnapped other girls before this, and they all chose to leave." This made the doctor stop. Surely that couldn't be possible. "4 girls to be exact. They all left and didn't warn the police. Just. Like. That." Moriarty smiled proudly.

"Now, I was planning to start our little game tonight." he announced, her body stiffened and her breath halted, terrified. "But with all the traffic and Johnny boy being so uncooperative, I think we best wait for morning." He leaned in and gave her a little kiss on the cheek, causing the doctor to practically throw him against the bars. Moriarty closed her cage door and locked it. "Good night!" he said before the heavy wooden doors slammed close. Leaving them alone, basking in the flames of the fire.

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 **This is the first part of my story, if you liked it or maybe have a tip please do leave a review! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2 - 20

**Here is part two of my fanfiction! There will be graphic description of violence in chapter 5 and you shouldn't be reading this if you are easily triggered! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Chapter 4**

For a few moments no one said a word, they waited, afraid that something bad might happen. When nothing happen for a few second, the two men stepped forward. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" asked the doctor. Elizabeth shook her head a little. "He shocked me once before you two came in." "Did he ... touch you?" "No. Not really. He made me undress in front of him." "That bastard!" "But he didn't look at me. I saw him in the mirror and he wasn't looking at me." "Moriarty doesn't get sexual satisfaction like that." explained the Detective. "He gets it from torture people mentally and physically." It made her shudder slightly, holy shit that was disturbing. "Sherlock!" exclaimed his friend. "It is better for her to know the truth if she is going to make it out of her alive." "Still you could have phrased it a big nicer, Sherlock. She is just a kid." Normally she would have huffed at that, but honestly, she didn't mind right now. "How old are you actually?" Elizabeth hadn't really been expecting that question. "Uhm,... 16." "Jesus." He buried his face in his hands. "Elizabeth, we should know as much as possible about you." "What why?" she honestly didn't felt like telling her life to the detective. "He knows everything about you. He will try to and probably succeed to manipulate you. We might be able to help you get through this." "Fine, fine!" She took a deep, shaky breath. "What do you want to know?"

"Let us start with your family. Tell me who they are and other such things." Her family, she could do that. "I have a mother and father, their names are Helena and Mark. My mum is 50. She is really passionate about languages and sports, she is really sweet but can be though when neccesairy. My dad is rather more a geek, we often watch movies together. But he is often away on buisnis trips though. Uhm, ... Anything else about them?" "No, this will do for now. Siblings?" "I have a younger brother and sister. My brother is 14 and his name is Luuk. He goes to the same school as me and he is studying math and science, he loves cats a lot. He plays volleyball and plays trumpet. My sis is 12 and we adopted her from Vietnam. She was such an adorable little bayb, she still is. She always wants to dance and sing. Her name is May. "Tell me everything else." So that was exactly what she did. She told them about herself, her hobbies and others.

By the time she was finished her throat was dry, her limbs were acing from being suspended. The fire had nearly died out, Elizabeth looked out of the window, and the sun was starting to rise slowly. Had she really been talking for nearly an entire night? "Very well, that will do for now." spoke the detective. "I suggest you try to get some rest, in fact, it would be best if all of us attempted to try and sleep. If we are going to be facing Moriarty, we should at least have a clear mind." She was about to retort to that but found that John was faster. "She can't possibly sleep in that possession. She is hanging from chains!" "I know it is not convenient." "Convenient." "Unless you know a way to untie her, John. I suggest you stop fighting it." "I'll be fine, Doctor Watson. But thanks for your concern." She didn't mean to make it sound that angry, but she was so tired.

She tried to relax as much as she could but found it nearly impossible. When she let her head hang forward, it was possibly the worst position ever. She attempted to let her head lull backwards, but that didn't work either. She kept a groan as quiet as possible, not wanting to wake the two men. Sherlock and John seemed to have fallen asleep, they were probably used to this kind of situation. She would have tossed and turned but couldn't even do that, but eventually she did fall asleep. She woke up when she heard a loud bang. Her neck hurt horribly as she looked up. "Good morning! Did you guys sleep well?"

She cringed away from the sudden light and horrible voice. He started to stride towards the cages. The other two men woke and stood up. "Well look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed! Cheer up!" When no one responded to him, he continued. "Today we should start our game. We are going to start of slow, see how much that you guys can take." He passed her cage, his hand gently touching the bars of her cage. Moriarty walked towards the bed behind her. He pulled a bag out from underneath the blankets. Elizabeth strained her neck to see what he was doing. She whimpered when she saw him pull out a whip. It had long leather strips and it looked rather treating. "This little beauty." he grinned. "Is something that the Romans called a Flagrum, but a little longer, and a lot better." yet again, no one spoke. She wanted to tell him to shut up. She tried to remember what Sherlock had told her. _He will want a reaction, he wants a response, and you can't give it to him. Don't provoke him._ He let the whip crackle through the air, sending shiver down her spine. We are going to start easy. We are going to start with 20 lashes. But now the last question remains, who is going to beat her? Sherlock? John? Or maybe me?" he said that last part with a little too much excitement. "Now I am going to give you guys a little time to discuss this. Bye! "He skipped out of the room.

"Shit! Shit! SHit! SHIt! SHIT!" "Elizabeth calm down! Calm down! Remember what I told you, don't give him a reaction. Stay calm. If you want to survive this you have to keep calm." "I am not going to calm down! I am going to get whipped! I am going to be tortured! I have the fullest right to fucking panic!" She started to breathe a lot faster, she couldn't actually breath anymore. Her entire body was shaking. "Oh god, oh god, oh fucking god!" "Breath Elizabeth, breath. In and out, in and out!" she was having a panic attack, the first panic attack that she ever had. "In and out Elizabeth, in and out." Slowly the soothing voice of the doctor entered her mind and she started to calm down again. "Okay, there you go Elizabeth. Nice and easy." she let out a shaking breath.

"Okay, okay. I am alright." She tried to get her thoughts in order. "Sherlock, what is the most logical and bet idea for this?" "We can't actually be reconsidering this! I mean we have to be able to fight this!" "John! Stop trying to make this better than it is! We are stuck! We are held captive, we can't doing anything about this! Lestrade isn't going to save us. Mycroft isn't going to save us. No one is, not until Moriarty wants us too! So man up. We are going to have to face this." At first it looked like he was going to try and fight Sherlock, but then he made this weird and annoyed, almost as if he was going to give up. But then he seemed to pull him together. "Alright. Alright. We'll get through this." Sherlock started to think pensively, if he hadn't been in that cage he would have been pacing. "Sherlock." John tried to call the detective attention. "Sherlock." he was sounding tired. "Sherlock!" "What John? What?" "You know what the most logical thing would be." The tall Brit ran his hand through his hair. "I know, I know." "What is the most logical solution? "She didn't like the feeling of being left out, especially if it was about her. "The most logical thing would be, if John would hurt you." "Why?" "I am a doctor. I know where it will the hurt the most and where it will hurt least. I can try to make it as simple as possible." "Very well. John it is."

 **Chapter 5**

The second when they had come to the conclusion the doors flew open. "Oh interesting! I didn't think you would choose your precious doctor." The Irish man stride in with a delusional smile plastered on his lips. Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder if he had been listening at the door. How else would he have known who to choose? But she couldn't imagine him standing at the door with his ear against the wood, much less actually being able to hear anything through the thick material. But still, there he was. With that bloody whip gently tapping against the side of his leg. "What? No hello? Nothing, no? You aren't really good guests." he grunted. With an almost elegant but mostly eerie twirl he turned towards Elizabeth. "Now sweet heart, if you could be so kind to stand still and not do anything stupid that would just be lovely." She kept her head straight and tried to keep still, but she felt her body tremble under his maleficent gaze. He strode forward and unlocked the cage without saying a word. Next he moved behind the cage and pulled on the levers. He released the pressure of the chains and she dropped to the floor. Her limbs ached from being strained for so long, she stretched her legs and couldn't help a sigh releasing from her lips.

"Now, now, no need to get comfortable just yet." She jumped upright when Moriarty suddenly spoke to her. He was standing at the cage door and beckoned her forward. She knew better than to disobey him, she was still changed and she was rather sure he still had his gun on him. Elizabeth stepped out of the cage, she quickly made eye contact with the detective who looked just as stressed as she felt, not really reassuring. "Turn around." He snapped inpatient. She didn't like the idea of her back being exposed to him, but really what choice did she have. Suddenly Elizabeth felt his chest against her back and her entire body tensed in horror, but he simply the chains that were attached to her wrists and maneuverer them till they fitted into 2 small grooves at the top of cage. "Hold still, he commanded when he slammed the door shut. At the bottom of the door didn't completely touch the bottom of the cage, leaving a little room for the chains of her heels. And the top grooves left space for the chains of her arms. He returned to the levers and pulled them again. She was pulled forward until her face was pressed into the bars and she yet again stood eagle spread. Her entire body was pressed into the cage and she had little room to move. Her breath quickened and she squeezed her eyes closed when he let his long fingers ghost over her exposed back. "Perfect!" He exclaimed cheerful.

Elizabeth heard him move towards the other cages. "Now, Johnny boy, please be a good lad and put your arms and legs through the bars so I can unchain you. No funny business, remember!" Johns let out a frustrated sigh but complied. With 4 heavy thunks the cuffs fell to the floor. "Now I am going to open this door, you are going to pick up the whip and do EXACTLY as I tell you." The lock sprang open and John carefully stepped out, the criminal had dropped the whip on the ground and John found himself staring at it, only then realizing what he was about to do. "Pick it up." Moriarty said as a clear threat. Yet the doctor found that he could move. He just kept staring at the horrible torture weapon on the ground. Elizabeth heard a gun cock. But still he didn't move an inch. "John." Sherlock urged. Finally John leaned forward to pick up the whip and swallowed hard. "See that wasn't all that hard. Now go to or young friend here." From the corner of her eye she saw Moriarty take a seat in one of the big armchairs, next to the fire. Behind her John was breathing fast, his hand was shaking as he looked at the pale back of the young girl. "Now John, 20 lashes. But good hard ones. If I am displeased I will let you continue till it is just right, or maybe I'll just take over. And who knows when I'll get bored." There was a gleam in his eyes that made him sick, all he wanted to do was shot this horrible monster right between the eyes. But instead he turned his attention towards Elizabeth. "Ready?" he asked his tone shaking slightly. He saw her repositioning herself and take a deep, trembling breath. Her hands were wrapped tightly against the bars of the cage when she gave him a short nod. He brought the whip back and aimed for the least sensitive area of her back as he brought it down on her. She let out a horrible cry in surprise, shock and pain at the same time as Moriarty let out a happy whop. Red marks showed up on her back, and John realized that there was little to nothing he could do to make it hurt less. The leather straps spread out and covered nearly her entire back. In desperation he looked over his shoulder at his companion. But all he saw in Sherlock's eyes was the same conclusion and defeat. "One down, 19 to go. Go on." He wanted to ask if she was ready but she just whispered. "Get it over with, please." Yet again he brought the whip back and a horrible crackle it came down on her back, this time she only let out a small whimper, he could see that she was biting her lip, in an attempt to muffle any noise.

The first time the leather connected with her skin she had let out a cry. Even tho she knew it was coming it was still a surprise. The whip had dug into her flesh sending a sharp pain through her entire body. It felt as if her entire back was on fire. And it was only the first one. She dug her teeth into her lip when she heard the second lash coming down, it felt as if John had hit her a lot harder this time. The straps slapped her skin with an incredible force making her want to scream again. She didn't get any time to recuperate, the doctor had done what she had asked and hurried the process up. Before she knew it, the whip came down again. And again. And again. Her body was shaking in pain and she pulled on the chains when another wave of pain claimed her every sense by the 7th lash she felt the strip break her skin. She felt warm drops of blood roll down her already abused back as the whip finally broke her skin. Only 13 more to go, she told herself, only 13 more. The doctor hesitated a bit when he saw the blood and could hear Sherlock gasp behind him. He wasn't halfway through yet and she was already bleeding. "Don't stop now! I do love it when they bleed fast!" He send a murders look towards the murder and saw a gleam of pleasure in his eyes. Dear god, he was enjoying it. But he did what he was told and continued the attack on Elizabeth.

When the whip came down again, she felt her skin tear even more, making the blood stream even stronger. It trickled down into her other wounds and down the small of her back, till it slowly dripped to the pace became more consisted as if he had fallen into some kind of rhythm. Tears ran down her cheeks as he ripped skin to shreds. Every time the whip crackled through the air it made her tens. The leather bit deeper in her back making her legs collapse. By the 16th lash she had given up keeping the sobs in, her lip was already bleeding and she just couldn't hold it in anymore. She let sobs and when the whip came down she let out a cry of pure pain. Her back was on fire and by now blood was rushing down her ties. Finally the last lash came down and a metallic taste filled mouth as she let out one last horse cry. The whip dug deep into her backs among the many open wounds, ripping a few last wounds into her skin.

With a thud she heard the whip fall to the ground and John moved forwarded. "Oh god Elizabeth! I am so, so, sorr." But before he could finish his sentence the Irish man interrupted him. "Ah, ah, ah doctor. Go back to your cage." "She needs medical attention." "Now!" "Moriarty, let John help her!" "I said NOW!" Roared the mad man, cutting of the efforts of both men. John looked towards Elizabeth, who had slumped forward and was now only suspended by the chains around her wrists, which were starting to bruise. Full of rage he went back to the cage. "Arms please." Reluctantly he let himself be chained up again, before slumping back in his chair. Borrowing his head in his hands at the realization at what he had just done. Sherlock looked worriedly at the girls back, she was bleeding a lot and breathing heavily. Tho she was in no danger of bleeding out, the wounds were painful and plenty full. Her body had gone completely slack, the only sounds were the soft sobs and hisses when she moved slightly. Her body was trembling, but to his amazement she tried to stand up. Her legs were shaking hard but somehow she managed to stand upright. Moriarty had noticed this and looked slightly surprised. 'Well look at that! And I thought I was going to have to drag you upright. Now let's looked at those nasty cuts." He walked up to the quivering girl and moved his hand towards the destroyed back. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her Moriarty." threatened Sherlock. But he merely raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't going to touch that." he spat waving at her back. "I don't like blood on my hands." He studied her back with care, inspecting every gash. "We'll you're in no danger, so I'll leave your back alone." "You can't be serious! She needs some help. If we don't clean those wounds they might get infected or scar!" "Honestly I don't really care, so you know, you can shut up now." "God dammit Moriarty, even you must..." "I would advise you to shut up doctor. You already caused enough damage, don't you think?"

Moriarty moved to the levers again and loosen the chains again. Elizabeth had been using the chains around her wrist to keep upright and stumbled back without the support. She landed onto her back and hit the carpet. She let out surprised cry and attempted to get back up as the carpet dug into her skin, putting pressure on the fresh wounds, sending fresh waves of pain through her body. But she couldn't get up, every time she tried the muscles in her back moved making it more agonizing. Suddenly Moriarty was looming over her and with a huge smile on his face he reached out a hand. She felt an incredible need to spit in his face but found she couldn't muster the courage. When Elizabeth continued to ignore his _helping_ h. He unlocked her cage door and threw her inside with more force then you'd expect from him. She hit the back of the cage hard and slumped to the ground with a yelp as yet again the senses of her back where are simulated with pain. Before she could come to her senses her arms were pulled upwards, pulling her from the ground. She had no time to steady herself as her legs were pulled from under her, when he adjusted the chains around her neck. "I was just trying to help, could have spared you a lot of pain if you had just taken my hand." He slammed the cage door close and stride out of the room, the big oaken doors slammed shut leaving them alone in the huge room yet again.

 **Chapter 6**

The second that Moriarty left the room Elizabeth broke down. Her back was on fire and she couldn't hold it in any longer. She hadn't wanted to give that horrible ass-hole the satisfaction of seeing her cry, which hadn't really worked, but she had managed to keep most of it in. However, now it spilled out. Loud sobs came from her lips as she shook, every movement strained her back and made a new wave of blood leak down her back. When she looked down she could see a little puddle of blood beginning to form. The pain was horrible and it wouldn't go away. She couldn't help but let another sob come out when she remembered what he had said. This was just the beginning, he was just getting started! God dammit! She could feel the concerned stares of the two men, they didn't seem to know what to say to her. But really what could they say? That it was going to be alright? That she had to hang in there?

"Elizabeth, I am so terribly sorry. I, I,..." the doctor trailed of, not knowing what to say next. What could he say? He had just whipped her. Elizabeth lifted her head up, forcing her abused back to move. She let out a hiss when the pain flared back up. When she met his green eyes and they were over flowing with worry and regret. Quickly she blinked her tears away and cleared her throat. "It isn't you fault." it came out cracked, she had probably cried her throat horse by screaming. "Still, I should have tried to stop him. To get us out. I was free!" replayed John with a guilt written face. She was about to answer but Sherlock cut in. "He had a gun John. He would have shot someone or used that shock device of his. It wouldn't have done anyone any good if you had attempted something." Sherlock face had been clear from emotion, the stress and worry she had seen earlier had been removed. Though she thought she could see a glimpse of rage and determination. He turned towards her. "How long ago did you have something to drink Elizabeth?" she licked her lips at the thought and found she had bitten a deep gash, but it was also completely chipped from dryness. Come to think of it, the last time she drank was in the shower. "Probably a day or so ago." Suddenly a horrible realization hit her. "He isn't going to dehydrate us, is he?" she asked with a level of panic. "No, I don't think so, but it is best if you don't talk too much. You had a serious beating, you'll need all the rest and energy you have to heal those gashed on your back."

"You want me to sleep?" she asked. "You want me to go to sleep? How do you expect me to fall asleep when my back feels like it is on fire?" "I didn't say that, but you shouldn't talk too much or attempt to get loose. It will be futile and any sudden movements will cause you to hurt more. "He was right, that outburst of anger had send flares of pain down her body. A few deep breaths later she was able to let her body relax a bit, a wave of exhaustion hit her. The fear, panic and pain had indeed left her feeling drained. Plus the fact that she hadn't eaten or drank in the last day, made her incredibly tired. Elizabeth closed her eyes, and her head felt to her chest. Her hair covered her face as she felt herself drift into a certain sleep state. She was still aware of her surroundings but couldn't muster the strength to move or react to anything. Her hair covered her face as her breathing started to even out.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth!" panic seized John's voice when the body of the teenager went slack. "Calm down John. I imagine she fell asleep. I assume you have seen this before." He had, but this had been a rather fast evolvement. Only a minute ago she had been yelling at Sherlock but now she was just hanging there, only being suspended by the chains. When he glanced at her cuffed wrists he couldn't help but wince as dark blue bruises were starting to form. Blood was still dripping down the small of her back into the ever growing red puddle underneath her. He was glad that her back wasn't pointed at them, he was rather sure he would have broken down if he had to look at the damage that he had done.

"Oh god Sherlock. What have I done?" "John, you couldn't have prevented it." "But I could have done it less hard, I could have given her time between each lash to breath, but I couldn't stop myself. I had to get it done as fast as I could. I fell into a rhythm Sherlock! I could hear her scream, I could see her tremble but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. She was bleeding so much! Those wounds they were so deep and I just went on and on. I couldn't, I couldn't..." He found himself incapable to stop, a few tears ran down his face as he remembered her horrible cries of pain. How her body had tried to move away from the next hit. How the chains were rattling because she was trembling so hard, how she had tried to make herself as small as possible. He remembered how she had started to plead. He was rather sure Elizabeth hadn't even realized that she had been begging him to stop; but the sound of her yelling stop. Begging him to let her go, begging him to stop this relentless pain echoed through his head. "John." Sherlock's voice was soft. "You did the best that you could. If you had slow down or hit her any softer than Moriarty would have punished you and taken over. And who knows how long he would have continued." "But she begged Sherlock. She begged me to stop." "Of course she did John, but you couldn't have. She knows that. I don't think she even knew she was begging you to stop John." The doctor hung his head in defeat. He knew what Sherlock said was true but still, he just couldn't stop himself from hearing her yell over and over again.

Both men fell into a silence filled with worry as their gazes fell onto the girl in front of them. They were both very much aware that this wasn't going to be the end, Moriarty had a lot worse in store for her. They weren't sure if she would be able to take it. She was so young and innocent. She didn't know how to cope with pain. She didn't know how to take torture, and they couldn't know when the consulting criminal would stop. Most times when you were tortured you could stop it by giving some kind of information, but in this situation they had no leverage, Moriarty did this because he didn't want to be bored. He liked this. He got off on this. Sherlock was rather sure he would make it out of here alive, and John most likely as well. His arch nemesis would love to see them struggle with the survival guilt, but whether Elizabeth would make it out of here alive. That dependent on her, whether she could take it. And Sherlock doubted any non-trained, teenage girl would be able to make it out of here alive.

 **Chapter 7**

For the next few hours there was an uncomfortable silence. Whenever they could hear the floorboards creak they would jump up, expecting Moriarty to come throw the door and give them another _choice_ but so far they had been lucky. Elizabeth stayed silent through everything, her throat was so dry that every breathe came out ragged. Apparently she had fallen asleep because she woke up when the door creaked open. She lifted up her head and winced when the dried blood crackled on her skin. She held her breath in anticipation but strangely it wasn't Moriarty that came through the doors, it was another man. He was smaller than Moriarty but broader, he kept his head low and his blond curls covered his face. He stepped inside a little unsure and closed the door behind himself. Vaguely she recognized him from somewhere, but she couldn't place him. He carried a silver platter in one hand, there were 3 thin cups steadily placed on top of it and a huge can of water. John was the first to break the silence. "And who are you?" he inquired, his tone was in check but she could feel the angry undertone. However the stranger simply ignored him and walked towards Sherlock's cage. He placed on of the glasses on the carpet and filled it with the clear water. He moved towards John's cage. "Are you Moriarty's accomplice? Does he let you watch? Do you enjoy to hear people scream? Is that it?" The man flinched at that, but placed a cup in front of John's cage none the less.

"John calm down. I can assure you this man isn't here of his own free will. This is our driver." She raised her eyebrows but now she could see it. Tho she had only seen the back of his head and the silhouette of him in the car, she did recognize him. "Then why is he here?" The detective rolled his eyes but explained what for him was ever so clear. "He is wearing a wedding ring, so he is married. For a while now looking by its state. He has one, no two kids probably around the age of 6 and 10, there are strands of hair on his clothes that don't belong to him, they are around his hips so too high for a dog but too low for an adult. By the state of his clothes I'd say he is a butler and the way he carried the tray before would suggest the same. So if I am right, he is the butler of the lovely dead couple downstairs and is now a hostage of Moriarty, to do the less interesting work. If he refuses his family will get killed one by one. Am I right?"

All he got was a solemn nod. The detective picked up the glass through the bars and downed it with one swing. "You should drink John, he won't poison us." Hesitantly John took his glass and emptied it down is throat. The butler opened Elizabeth's cage with a little key and brought a full glass to her lips. Part of her wanted to defy Moriarty in every possible way but another, stronger part, was really thirsty. She open her lips and allowed him to pour it's contend inside of her mouth. Honestly, water never tasted better. It was a bit metallic as the blood on her lip went down with it, but honestly she couldn't care less. When the glass was empty she licked her lips, wetting them. "Would you like some more?" She looked up at the man, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. His voice was ruff but with a gentle British accent. "Yes please." he filled her glass and repeated the actions. Once she had downed the second glass he stepped back and locked her cage again. He was about to refill the doctor's and detective's cups when she asked him a question. "What is your name?" her voice was a lot steadier now that it wasn't as dry. For a second he hesitated and she was rather sure she wouldn't get an answer. "Peter." the Brit spoke.

He carefully refilled the cups and headed towards the fire place. With care he relight it, and soon there was a raging fire. He took back the glasses and walked out the door without saying another word. She was able to make eye contact just before he closed the oaken doors, his blue eyes were filled with horror and worry. He quickly closed the door and left them alone.

"Dear god, another innocent dragged into this." growled John. "We'll it was only logical that he has someone to do his dirty work. He always has." "Still, if we had just managed to catch him faster this might have been prevented." "Oh, I have no doubt that my brother has already captured him at least once." "What?" she hadn't expected that. "My brother probably got minimum information about his planes while he got everything he needs to get this done." "Why would your brother let him go? Doesn't he know that he would come after you?" "Of course he does, he probably just thought he could prevent him." Elizabeth swore hard when he told her this. "You have a fucking lousy brother, you know that?!" "I am aware." "I knew Mycroft was an idiot, but I never imagined him to be that idiotic!" "I know John, you'll get plenty of time to tell him that when we get out of here."

"Do you recon that the police know that I've been taken by Moriarty as well?" "I suppose so, didn't you say your brother saw him. He must have described them to the police." "Is there any chance that they will find him? I mean they must have camera footage of him driving out of the city and such. And the people that lived here must have a life and family that would notice that they are dead. Surely they must find us!" "No, they won't. Moriarty has roots everywhere and I doubt he will have left the camera's on while he drove off. He knows every inch of London as well as I do. They won't find us till he wants them to." "Will they find us alive?" Sherlock was quiet for a second. She felt as if she knew the answer, she was a spare, just as important to Moriarty as Cedric was to Voldemort. "Never mind stupid question." "Elizabeth, we will do everything we can to make sure you make it out of here alive, you hear me. We won't let you die." She nodded, but in realty there wasn't really a lot that they could do now was there?

 **That was my second part! I hope you liked it! Leave a comment if you have recommendation of what should happen to Elizabeth, I have several things in mind, but a bit more doesn't matter! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Sherlock

**Chapter 8**

* * *

They were left alone a little longer, when a horrible feeling came over. It didn't hurt or anything, but it was one she really, really didn't need right now. She started to move her legs in an attempt to stop it, it didn't work. "Elizabeth are you alright?" asked John, noticing her squirming. Shit, they didn't need to know this. "Yeah, I'm fine." but apparently she had gotten Sherlock's attention. He glanced up and down her body and put on a worried face. She hoped that he wouldn't say it, but when did she ever get what she wanted? "You have to go to the bathroom." he stated, with an annoyed sigh she hung her head. "Yes Sherlock, I have to go to the toilet, thanks for the announcement. Now, do you have any good advice?" Sherlock opened his mouth, probably to make a clever remark, when the door opened again. Their strange friend Peter entered again. He wasn't carrying anything and walked straight towards her cage. "I am going to let you down and you are going to go to the bathroom without making a fuss, alright?" "Wait what? First of all, no. Secondly, how the hell do you know that I have to go?" "Moriarty's orders, it is either now, or you'll have to pee like that." "You've got to be kidding me! Where on earth would I go to the bathroom in here?" Quietly he nudged the little metal bowl on the ground. "Nope, nope, nope. I am not doing it here. Tell Moriarty to go fuck himself!" Elizabeth refused to even listen to the suggestion. "Elizabeth, I think it would be best if you did what he told you." She was surprised at John's remark. "John is right." She glared at Sherlock, but she really had to go, and she knew that they were right. "Fine!" Peter walked to the levers and let her down. She groaned loudly when she hit the ground. The blood on her back had dried and made it hard to move. It creaked when she stretched her arms and legs. "We don't have a lot of time, so please hurry up."

She glanced at the bowl in disgust, this was so degrading. "Well, look away at least." The butler quickly turned his back to her, Sherlock and John were already looking away. She wanted to sigh with relief but this wasn't really the ideal situation. When she was done, she scuffed away. "Ready." Peter opened the door and took out the bowl. He threw the content out of the window. Her face was bright when he readjusted her chains. "Oi, watch it mate! No need to pull her arm out of it socket!" said John when he saw her wince. Peter whispered a soft apology and scurried out of the room.

Elizabeth decided she had enough of the awkward silences and stroke up a conversation. Once she got them talking about their cases they continued happily. They filled in little details that the other forgot or didn't find important. The stories were most miraculous and she hung on their every word. John was about to talk about a case involving an elephant when the doors swung open. They slammed shut as Moriarty walked through. "How adorable! Such cute bonding stories, I am almost sorry that I have to cut them short, but I am on a scheduled. "Her back stung at the recalculation of what had transpired earlier that day. The pain had ebbed away slightly, but moving still send a wave of pain through her body. "How is your back Elizabeth?" he asked with a mocking tone. She felt the incredible need to hiss at him but kept her jaws firmly shut. He stood behind her and he put his and through the bars, letting his cold hands trail down her back. She couldn't help but screw her eyes shut and hiss. His nails ran over the wounds, reopening some of them, while he tusked at the damage. "My, my, Doctor Watson. You did quite a number on her back." Finally he withdrew his hand and left her back alone. She let out a soft breath that she didn't knew she was holding and allowed her body to relax a bit. Moriarty circled her cage like a predator with its prey.

"The next task will require a certain amount of delectation, someone used to cutting into someone without hesitation, someone with a steady hand. One of us." he gestured at himself and her two companions. "Will carve something on her belly using this." he pulled out little knife from his jacket and showed it to them, as if it was a prized possession. Meanwhile she was starting to feel sick, she knew he wasn't done with her but she had expected a little longer time to calm down. Before anyone could really react he placed the blade on the ground and walked out the door, just before they fell close he popped his head between them. "The same choice gentlemen and lady. Sherlock, John or little old me." And he was gone.

She swore under her breath. Really? She was going to get carved into? Really! How bloody barbaric! What was he hoping to accomplish? Elizabeth looked up at Sherlock and met his eyes. They were dark with anger and frustration, but she could see that he had already made up his mind. John however, was still cursing angrily at the horrible man. "John, it is alright. I'll do it." "Hell no! I have to do this! I know where all the nerve endings are and, and, and, ..." "So do I. I know a lot about anatomy." "But I am a doctor!" "Yes, but you are also completely shaken up. You need to process this." "I NEED TO PROCESS THIS? What about her?" he gestured wildly at me, and Sherlock fell silent, realizing he hadn't asked her what she wanted.

"Do you have any...? Who would you like...? What would be the least...?" Sherlock awkwardly tried to phrase it. "I honestly don't know which one of you to choose. I don't think it will make it any less painful. Just don't let him do it. He'll do whatever he can to make it as horrible as possible." Elizabeth shuddered at the idea of him coming close to her body with that vile knife. She crocked her head to get a better look at it. The blade was made out of silver with small patterns carved into it. She was no expert, but she knew it was double edged, however it seemed very sharp, so it might minimize the pain when it cut through her skin. The hilt was of a simple white marble. If the situation hadn't been so dire she would have been in awe of its elegant.

"John, you should do it. It will break you." Sherlock pleaded. "I am not weak Sherlock!" "I know but, " "I survived a war!" "Yes, but " "I have gone on cases with you where I could have died and where I have killed people." "I know." "I have." "I know John! But you have never had to hurt an innocent child before! You have never purposely tortured someone! It could break you, which is the last thing we need!" "Neither have you!" "But I know how to deal with this kind of stuff. I can take it. It isn't as hard for me." "Bull!" "John!" "God Sherlock it is almost as if you want to do it!"

The room fell silent and Elizabeth could see that John regretted saying that the second he did. "Sherlock I didn't mean." "It is alright John." "I never meant. I was just so angry. I know you would never want to do something like that." "I know." but the detective still seemed hurt. "But that just proves the point. You get so riled up, so angry that you lash out. You can't keep your head clear. But I can." For a couple of seconds they were quiet and looked at each other. It was almost as if a silent conversation happened between the two men. The doctor lowered his head. "Okay. Fine." The detective nodded and faced me. His eyes were filled with sorrow and stress. She licked her lips nervously as she felt her body starting to shake. She was just about to say something to reassure Sherlock when Moriarty re-entered the room with a cheerful smile.

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

* * *

"Hello, hallo! How is everyone doing?" A shiver went down her spine as he walked towards them as nonchalant as he could. With no hesitation he turned towards the two men, his back facing her. To be honest, she didn't mind, Elizabeth doubted she could have kept her mouth shut if he had started to taunt her. She glanced at the doctor, he was keeping his gaze fixed to the ground, not allowing the criminal to provoke anything. But his slightly shaking for and the way he had clenched his hands into fists betrayed his utter rage. Moriarty had noticed it too of course. "Come on Johnny boy, don't be angry! You won't get hurt anymore! Sherlock took care of you very nicely." John took a deep breath but didn't react. "He always has to, doesn't he? Make sure that you are alright, that you aren't hurt. He couldn't possibly let you get any more mental trauma." Moriarty said it with a mocking sympathy. When the soldier still didn't react, he merely shrugged and turned to Sherlock.

"Are you ready to get started!" he threw the detective a smile as he casually leaned on the bars of his cage. Sherlock hadn't moved an inch since Moriarty had entered the room. He stood tall and calm, as if nothing could phase him; but there was something in his eyes that showed how much he hated the predicament that they were in. "Come on, don't try to hide it." Moriarty leaned in closer so that his face was just inches from the bars. "We all heard just how eager you were to get started a few minutes ago. I bet you can't wait to get started. To feel the muscles tense under your hand as you cut into her flesh. To hear her scream while her warm blood spills over your hands. You want to feel her squirm as her flesh is cut open. You want to see her weep. You want it." His voice had turned soft and alluring. The way he described what was going to happen made her want to be sick. "No." the voice of the detective was ruff and controlled, not giving Moriarty anything but his denial.

"Very well then. It isn't like you have much of a choice anyway." he pushed himself up from the cage and grabbed a set of keys hanging from his belt. "You know the drill Sherlock. Nothing stupid." He swung the iron door open and dropped on his knees in front of the Brit. He rested opened the shackles slowly, and then without breaking eye contact, slid one of his hands upwards the inner tights of the detective. When he finally stood up he was only an inch away from Sherlock's face, clearly trying to make the detective nervous and uncomfortable, seeing how far he could be pushed. But still he got no reaction. So he leaned forward till his lips were right next to his ear and whispered, almost seductively. "Your hands, please." Sherlock brought his hand upwards and Moriarty uncuffed his wrists. "Thank you." he whispered with a soft smile. He dropped the shackles, which hit the ground with a lot of noise and twirled around. "Come on now! Let's get this party started!"

Sherlock followed Moriarty out of the cage and picked up the next torture devise when Moriarty gestured to it. He was now facing Elizabeth. "Sorry sweetheart, but you are going to have to stay where you are right now. It will be a lot easier to do if you're restrained. And with that he opened her door as well. He moved towards the chairs again and sat down, allowing Sherlock to enter the cage. Her 'prison' wasn't that small, but Sherlock was only a few centimetres away from her when he entered.

"I wish I could tell you that this won't hurt, but it will, probably a lot." he said, looking her in the eyes. "I know it is hard but you'll have to try and relax, if you relax your muscles it will hurt less. You have to try." Elizabeth nodded starting to panic. "I'll try to do it as fast and as painless as I can, but there is only so much I can..." Sherlock was cut off by Moriarty who was getting impatient. "Come on! We don't have all day you know. Sherlock, can you guess what you'll have to carve?" Sherlock swallowed hard but answered. "Probably a name, one of our names." "Exactly! Yours to be exact! But don't fret, it makes no difference who would have done the carving, it would have been the same name." Sherlock turned his attention to Elizabeth, he was just about to say something but Moriarty beat him to it. "Get on with it already, don't try to stall."

Sherlock, awkwardly, gave her a quick hug, as if to comfort her. "I am sorry." "Its okay." she replied. He went to sit on his knees in front of her stomach. For a second he seemed to be confused what to do with the fabric that was in the way. He made up his mind and carefully cut away the part of her dress where he was going to cut. She could feel the cold steel as it passed her. Once the blue fabric fell to the ground he placed on hand on her hip, to keep her steady probably, and placed the edge of the knife on her skin. She took in a sharp breath when suddenly Moriarty cried out. "Wait!" Sherlock quickly redrew his knife and she managed to relax a little. "You can't just start cutting without any direction. Here use this first." He threw a marker at the cage. "Make sure it is big enough!"

Sherlock grabbed the black marker, took of the cap and started to draw. Elizabeth craned her neck to see as he wrote, and shivered at the size of the name. "I would have made it bigger, but hey, I'll take what I can get." From her right hip bone all the way to the left one, was written _Sherlock_. None of the letter touched her ribcage and he had made sure that her bellybutton was in the middle of the R. "Now you can start. Make sure you do it properly from the first time, or I'll redo it on her back.

She sucked in a deep breath as he picked up the knife and brought it to her skin. "Relax." he said with a certain desperation in his voice. She nodded once and breathed out. He grabbed her hips strongly and pushed the knife in.

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

* * *

She let out blood curling scream when he started. He didn't just push it into her tissue, he plunged it into her and immediately dragged it down in a horrible fashion. Her entire body was shaking with pain as she felt blood starting to drip down her skin in a steady stream. She was breathing hard, but every breath made the pain worse. She had told herself she wasn't going to scream, but she hadn't been prepared for that sensation. The whipping had been a burning sensation that had been building up. But this, this was worth. The knife hadn't been as sharp as she expected and it had torn her flesh apart as Sherlock had cut the _S_ in one swipe. She felt him put the knife against her again and didn't have time to say anything before he dragged it down, in one swift movement. She didn't have time to scream before she felt it being plunged in again making another blood red line on her body. He placed the knife in one of the wounds and dragged it towards the other side. It didn't give immediately so he had been forced to tug at it.

It felt as if he was tearing her organs out of her. "Stop!" she yelled, desperately wanting him to give her a minute to progress the pain before he continued. But he didn't slow down with 4 quick movement he carved the _E_ into her skin. He had quickly made the horizontal lines before cutting the vertical one right through the wounds. "Please, give me a second. Please stop. Oh god!" she breathed out as she saw him place the knife back into her flesh. "NO!" she yelled out as he started to make the _R._ She desperately pulled away, only making the horrible burning sensation that much worse. The warm blood had soaked the rest of her dress and his hand. Making him loos his grip for a second. "Please, wait!" Sherlock didn't look up as he seized her again and pulled her towards him. The shackles were shaking along with her body as she tried to get away, but to no avail. With a horrible sound the blade went down and carved an elegant _L_ into the soft flesh of her skin. He didn't even give her a chance to take a breath as the _O_ followed quickly. She was a sobbing mess, her head resting on her chest as she tried to breathe through the pain.

This was a lot worse than the merciless flogging she had endured a couple of hours ago. The sharp pain followed by the horrible burning sting that stayed. The flow of warm blood that just wouldn't stop. The strong grip on her waist, preventing her from escaping the horror, and the steady hand that made her scream. "Sherlock please." she pleaded. All she wanted was a couple of seconds to gather her strength. Only blinding, white, hot pain past through her. But he didn't even look up. She screamed yet again, through her head back as he started with the _C._ "SHERLOCK! Give her a second!" It was John this time. He was looking at pure horror as his best friend carved up the young girl in front of him. Not even stopping between letters, as if he had done this a million times before. For a split second the knife stopped mid cut, only to proceed with a quick tug. She couldn't even gather the strength to beg him to stop when the knife flashed again. In a second there stood the blood red _K_.

She heard the clanging of metal on metal as Sherlock dropped the knife and quickly stood up. She looked up when he grabbed her face with his hands. Leaving a bloody print on her check. "I am so sorry. I am sososososo sorry." A steady stream of tears were running down her face, mingling with the sweat that had started to come for the pain. For a second, a look of terror laid in her eyes as she met his. Not being able to distinguish the man from his actions. But his blue greenish eyes were full of tears and horror. Seeking forgiveness and trying to see if she would ever be alright. All logic had disappeared from them.

Elizabeth sobbed as she rested her head against his for head, seeking comfort without getting hurt anymore. Sherlock desperately wanted to hold her close, pull her into a hug and protect her. He had never felt this protective of anyone, but a few, before. "How very moving." came a cold voice from behind them. He felt her take a sharp breath and placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "You can move away now Sherlock." said Moriarty with a threating undertone. Sherlock squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. "I'll get you out of here. Alive. I promise." he pulled her closer for just a second before moving out of the cage. The detective couldn't help but let his eyes wander towards the girl's abdomen. He quickly threw down his eyes at the view. Right there, on her stomach, was carved his name. It was done elegantly, and flawless. But blood covered the wounds and wouldn't stop flowing. It stood out as horribly on her pale flesh.

Suddenly he felt Moriarty pad him on his back. "Well, done. Couldn't have done it better myself." it took all his strength, not to punish him in the face right there and then. "She needs medical attention. She could bleed out." he managed. "You are most definitely right, those wounds look rather horrible, and she is starting to get very pale. Sherlock wasn't sure what to do but started to move forward. "Wait a second. You won't be able to do anything like this. PETER!" When he raised his voice she pulled away. Her mind was still fuzzy and she couldn't quite register what was happening. The butler opened the door with a bucket of water and a towel. He placed it down and ran back out, avoiding looking at Elizabeth, clearly terrified.

"Now you can go." Moriarty gave Sherlock a little push and went back to his comfortable chair. Sherlock grabbed the bucket and dragged it into the cage. He inspected the wound, it would stop bleeding by itself. He had made sure he didn't touch any important or big arteries, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't get infected. When he pushed his hand into the bucket he deducted something, but it didn't registered. He knew something was very wrong, but he was too focused on the girl hanging above him to concentrate on the feeling of dread. His hand sunk into the water with the blue towel, soaking it. The warm water engulfed his fingers while he made eye contact with the teen. Her hair fell down next to her face, beats of sweat and tears were rolling down her face, mixing with the red puddle of blood at his knees. Her eyes were so dark making the brown look black. She looked so vulnerable, so fragile, and she was trusting him completely. She had put her faith in him and that he would get her out. He only hoped she was right.

.He brought his hand up and carefully pressed it against her stomach, to clean the wound. For a second everything was alright, for a second he thought his gut feeling had been wrong. For once he hoped he had made a mistake, but he was proven wrong. He felt her abused muscles contract under his hand before he heard her scream. Her broken voice rang through the room as he dropped the towel. In a matter of seconds he was on his face grabbing her face. "What is going on? What happened?" "It burns!" she cried as she twisted in the chains. He grabbed the towel and brought it to his nose. Salt! "Salt!" he screamed, not being able to control his anger any longer.

He brought his sleeve to her stomach to and whipped away the blood and water. The harsh treatment reopened some of the wounds but got clear of the salt. She was steal breathing hard, some of the salt was still stuck, but luckily the blood washed away the rest. "Hey, hey. Breathe okay. Breathe." he tried to calm her down when she heard someone laugh. Moriarty.

His entire body went stiff as he tried to calm her down. He held her close to him, trying to let her calm down. "You didn't actually believe. I mean you can't be that stupid! You didn't actually think I was going to let you help her! Jesus Sherlock!" He was slapping his knee and could barely speak anymore at his amusement. Elizabeth rested her head on his shoulder. Her breathing was finally evening out when Moriarty jumped up again. "Okay. That's enough cuddling. Back to your cage Sherlock. Times up. Fun's over." Sherlock didn't move. He placed his hand in her hand, carefully trying to south her. "Sherlock. Playdate's over." When the detective stayed where he was they heard a gun cock. "Move." There was no question in his voice. "I will shock her if you don't leave move. NOW."

He pulled her a little closer before carefully letting her go. There was nothing more than pure hate in Sherlock's eyes as he walked into the cage. His hands, face, shirt, pants, everything was covered in her blood. Moriarty chained up his hands and legs, not lingering this time. He closed the door and walked away. Elizabeth was breathing calm but shallow, her head was resting on her chest. He should have known. He should have seen.

* * *

 **A/N: That was part 3. I know it is a little shorter then the other two, sorry about that, but I hope you guys liked it. If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to happen next just let me know. Maybe I'll use it. :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Dreams

**Chapter 11**

* * *

With a lot of effort Elizabeth raised her head. She felt so tired but looked around to at the two men. John was staring into nothing. He was clutching the bars of his cage, his knuckles turning white. He hadn't said a word the entire time, but she could see him trembling. When he made eye contact with her she was taken aback by the pure hatred in them. She knew it wasn't directed to her, but god he was scary when he looked that way.

"That bastard." It came out in a low hiss, he was clearly trying to contain his anger, but was having a hard time doing so. "That pathetic piece of shit. If I ever get my hands on him." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. "He will not get away with this." The doctor turned to his companion who remained silent. "Sherlock?"

The detective looked worn out. With Moriarty out of the room he didn't have to keep a posture up. His shoulders had slumped over as he leaned against the front bars. His black curls came between the bars and she noticed the spatters of blood matting the hairs together. He was completely covered in blood. Her blood. The black pants had streaks of blood, from kneeling in the crimson pool at her feet. His white shirt had several messy red hand prints and his right sleeve was drenched in the warm liquid from when he cleaned her wounds from the salt.

When he raised his head she noticed that the blood on his face had started to dry. "No, he won't." He growled. "When we get out of here, and we will, I will track him down and make him pay." The eyes that only minutes ago had been full of despair were blazing with rage. He straightened himself and attempted to whip some of the blood that was still on his hands on his pants. "Mycroft must be getting close. If he and Lestrade are working together we'll be fine."

The adrenalin that had been keeping her awake was starting to wear of and she felt her eye lids getting heavier. She wanted nothing more than to get some sleep, to escape the reality of being held captive by a psycho behind for a couple of hours.

John had noticed the sudden slacking of the young girl. "Get some sleep Elizabeth. I doubt Moriarty will show up again today." She glanced at the mirror, the sun was starting to set, and day 2 was almost over. It was funny to think she had only been here for 48 hours, it felt like an eternity. She lost her train of thought when the beautiful mercy of sleep over took her.

"I think she fell asleep." Murmured John, not wanting to disturbed her. "You are quite right. Her breathing has evened out." A heavy silence filled the room as the two men looked at the girl. Sherlock dropped himself onto the little wooden chair in his cage with a sigh. "Are you alright Sherlock?" "No, I don't think that I am John."

Though John didn't think he had been, the detective rarely admitted it when something was amiss. "I thought I would be able to ignore her screams, stay in my mind palace and get it over with, but it appears to be impossible to hide from someone's screams if you are causing it." "You know it is not your fault right?" "I do. But that doesn't lessen the guilt, but I think you know what I mean." John nodded, he did. He still felt horrible knowing what he had done. He could still hear her pleading him to stop, at least he didn't have to look at his _work_.

Sherlock couldn't bear to look at the exposed skin of Elizabeth, it was bleeding, but it was slowing down. But he could clearly see it. His name. In bright red. Dripping with blood. He turned his gaze to the ground. "They'll get us out of here. You said so yourself Sherlock. Don't give up." "I'm not giving up John. It's just, that I am worried that they might already be too late." "How so?" "Do you think she'll ever be able to recover? That she'll ever be able to look into the mirror, to see those scares and be okay?"

"We can only hope. There is nothing we can do. We can hope and try to help her as much as we can." The detective nodded in agreement. "Get some rest John. We'll need a clear mind if we are going to get through this.

Seeing that his friend needed some time to think John complained. With his back to the detective he sank to the ground, looking out the window. He wondered how far Greg and Mycroft had gotten. Did they know where they were? How long had they been looking? And Elizabeth's poor family, they must be so terrified. Lestrade had probably told them what had happened, who had their daughter.

Sherlock was looking at the fire, his head resting in his hands. He ruffled up his hair, only getting more blood in them. He must look quite horrible at this point, covered in blood. He had to find a way to protect the girl. Moriarty clearly had no desire to hurt them yet, but if he could only get his aggression focused on himself instead of the young teenager.

Sadly Moriarty wasn't stupid, there was no way that he was going to change his game plan. No, he couldn't do anything to change his actions. But maybe he could soften the blows somehow? Maybe he could stop Moriarty from destroying someone's life just for the fun of it. Maybe it didn't have to end in tragedy.

But somehow he doubted they were all going to make it out of here. He had told the girl that Moriarty wasn't going to kill her, that the psychological pain she would be in was much more amusing. He had been lying though. It wasn't her pain that he was enjoy, though he probably didn't mind it. It was his. He wants to see me break under the pressure of saving her life. He wants to show me that no matter what I do. I won't win.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

* * *

She was laying in front of the fire, the sounds of a movie were in the background but she couldn't quite focus on it. Elizabeth looked around, confused. Where was she? She placed her hands on the white carpet and pushed herself up from the ground. "Lay back down Elizabeth! I can't see the tv!" she looked behind herself only to see the very annoyed face of her brother. She sat up directly, her parents, brother and sister were all sitting there! "Elizabeth!" he huffed in annoyance. She lowered herself back down.

Had everything been a dream? She brought her hand to her stomach and couldn't find any scars or other signs of wounds. She brought her hand to her back with the same result. Nothing. Nothing had happened it was all a dream! She laughed heartily and closed her eyes in a moment of bliss.

A happy growl came from next to her, when she turned her head she saw her dog settling down. She put her arm around him and pulled the golden retriever closer to her. As she ruffled his fur, he nuzzled closer towards him, and licked her face. "Ugh, James! Don't do that!" she laughed heartily. Her family was laughing at her as she whipped her face.

When she reopened her eyes, she was no longer at home but sitting at a desk. Her teacher was walking around the classroom lecturing them on a subject. She looked around the classroom and saw the same thing she saw every day. None of the students were really interested and were resting their head on the palms of their hands listening to the teacher. Some of them didn't even have their books out and were resting on the desk itself.

Next to her was one of her friends Melody. She was completely turned around and talking to Paige, another friend. They laughed loudly and when they saw that Elizabeth wasn't laughing Melody turned around to poke her in the side. "Lighten up Elizabeth! God." In reflex she found herself poking her back. "You're the one to talking! You've been sulking all morning!" They were laughing loudly when the teacher smacked his hand on her desk. She turned around in fright, it wasn't Mr. Brit anymore, and it was Moriarty. "Wakey wakey!"

She screamed out as her eyes flew open.

It had been a miracle. He had fallen asleep. His brain had been in overdrive as he had been looking in the flames. Trying to figure out what do next. What Moriarty's next move would be. How he could end this as fast as possible. But one way or another the detective had fallen asleep.

He woke up on his couch in the flat. Mrs. Hudson was scuffling around the kitchen, trying to bring a bit of order in the chaos. "Do you really need all of this Sherlock?" she asked making her way towards him. "Yes Mrs. Hudson I am running an experiment." He groaned out. "Well at least make some space for your breakfast. I can't even put down the kettle, sweetheart." "Just put it on the ground."

He heard Mrs. Hudson sigh as the kettle was set down. "Just make sure John doesn't trip over it." "Sure…" he let out a drawl as he concentrated on the newspaper that had been lying on his lap. He was trying to find a case, but honestly there was so much bullshit in the paper that he gave up after a minute or so.

He got up and retied his robe making his way towards the window. He grabbed his violin, placed it against his chin and started to play a soft piece of Bach. It wasn't long before John made his way down. "Morning." He mumbled as he made his way through the kitchen. "Where is the?!" A loud clattering sound was followed by a string of curses. "Jesus fuck why is the kettle on the ground?" "Oh right, Mrs. Hudson put it there."

"You couldn't have warned me?" "Forgot." He could practically hear John roll his eyes at him. "YOU are cleaning this up. And clear some space. I'm heading down to get some tea." John walked down the stairs but not before he threw a towel in his general direction. He could hear Mrs. Hudson making some tea while complying about Sherlock's behaviour.

With a little smile on his face he grabbed the towel and with an amused sigh he started to clean the tea that had been spilled. He was just about to put the kettle in the overflowing sink when he heard a bloody curling scream come from downstairs.

He dropped the kettle and rushed downstairs, he didn't recognize the voice but he needed to help whoever was screaming. _"Please stop!"_ He threw the door open to Mrs. Hudson's kitchen and stopped in his track. On one of the chairs was a young girl her face was hidden the shadows as blood dripped down from her sides. She let out another scream.

He turned to see Moriarty standing there, next to Mrs. Hudson and John. He held out a knife with a sneer. "Well go on then. You know you want to." He smiled. "No." he said quietly. "Don't lie to yourself Sherlock you know you want to." He looked in surprise at John as he spoke, his face was consorted in pure disgust. "John…" "Oh don't be such a coward Sherlock. Don't try to lie to us." Mrs. Hudson looked at him with pure anger.

"No, you don't understand." "Don't worry, we do." The doctor sneered at Sherlock as Moriarty stepped closer. He placed the knife in his hand and his hand on the detectives back. The girl was still desperately trying to pull away scream at the top of her lungs, her voice was full of pain and terror as they moved forward. Just as he was about to cut the young girl, Moriarty moved a bit closer and whispered. "Wakey, wakey."

His eyes flew open and he was dragged back to the real world.

When John looked behind himself Sherlock had slumped forward. His breathing was even and his posture was calm. He was asleep. So was Elizabeth, though her body twitched in sudden bursts of pain, a weak small was plastered on her lips. That plus the fact that her eyes were twitching under her eyelids he realised that she was in a deep sleep and probably dreaming.

Hopefully she would stay like this for a while. Hopefully she could be at peace for a while. Maybe he should try to sleep to. Get some rest, so he could think clearly. The last time he slept had been directly after he had hurt, no tortured, Elizabeth. That hadn't been all that long ago, but he hadn't exactly slept all that well.

However, after a lot of tossing and turning he fell asleep. In his dream he was back in Afghanistan. It had been forever since he had a dream like that, he hadn't had another dream since his second case with Sherlock. He was walking through the hospital, there had been another bomb and several people were being brought in, all within an inch of their life.

He rushed into the surgery room where a young woman was lying down on the table, she hadn't been sedate and was yelling in absolute pain and horror. "Sedate her." He said, but none of the nurses reacted. They grabbed the terrified girl and turned her on her stomach. "I said sedate her." "Oh you don't want her sedated for this."

He looked around to the nurse, about to scold him about his behaviour when he recognized him. "But you? You aren't supposed to be her." "She needs your help doctor. He turned towards the girl as her shirt was pealed of. "Don't it, will worsen the burns." He grabbed the nurse's hand. "Burns? There are no burns." "She was effected by the bomb wasn't she?" "What bomb?"

John looked around confused. What the hell was going on? Suddenly he noticed that everything had gone quiet. The room was alone in the hospital. Everything else was empty and quiet. Only the screams of the young girl echoed through the empty halls.

"Doctor?" He looked up at the nurses but there was only one left. "Doctor, she needs your attention." "Yeah right." He brought the scalpel to her skin, only it wasn't a scalpel anymore. "Well that isn't how you are supposed to do it Doctor Watson. You bring it back and then you bring it down again.

John did what he was told and when he brought it down, the girls' entire body spasmed as she let out another horse cry. Blood started too ooze out at an alarming rate. He looked at his hand in confusion, why was he holding a whip for fucks sake? "Why are you stopping doctor? She needs your help." He caught himself obeying when the girl suddenly stopped screaming. His nurse moved forward and whispered in his ear. "Wakey, wakey."

He dropped the whip as he turned around, only to find himself standing in the middle of the cage, not quite sure what to do with himself.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

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Elizabeth was breathing hard when she opened her eyes. Her nose was nearly touching Moriarty's as he pulled back from her ear. "Hello sweat heart!" her heart was pounding in her chest, she hadn't expected him to be this close to her. Quickly she averted her eyes from him, breaking eye contact. Both John and Sherlock had jumped up from Moriarty's wake up call.

Clearly displeased Moriarty grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. "You know, when I walked into the room all three of you were so peace full. I couldn't help but watch for a while, but I have to say that it changed very fast. With a minute both you and you." He pointed at Sherlock and John. "Were covered in sweat, panicking if I may say. But you." He shook her head softly, a huge grin spreading over his face. "You were practically laughing the entire time. I mean I was standing right here, almost touching you, and you didn't even flinch."

The thought of him standing in front of her while she dreamed of her family and friends felt like a whole new level of invading her privacy. As if he tried to come into her dreams. He held her for a little while longer, staring deeper into her eyes. He patted her cheek before leaning in and softly kissed her cheek tenderly.

It took all her strength not to puke right there and then. "Oh come on darling, this isn't all that bad!" Laughing at the face he pulled he turned and walked out of the cage, not even bothering to close her cage. "Anyone care to share? Tell us what they dreamed about?" He allowed his hand to, carefully, run over the bars of the cages. "No one? Oh well!"

"Let us start today a little calmer. How about a little Q&A?" he raised an eyebrow at the last sentence. No one reacted, as always. "Let's start with… Sherlock!" He turned on his heels and turned around to detective. "I'll ask you a question and you'll answer me! Al righty then!" he clapped his hands and leaned on the bars. "So tell me Sherlock, when was your last relationship?"

Sherlock showed a tone of surprise at the question, but kept his mouth shut. "Very well! If you want to play hard to get!" he reached into his pockets and for a second nothing happened. The other moment, horrible pain shoot through her neck as an electric current ran from the collar. The spasms made her muscles contracted, making her fresh wounds sing with pain.

"I repeat my question. When was your last relationship, Sherlock?" With a growl he answered "Never." "Never? Really?" "I was home schooled and I wasn't really relationship material." "Uh… Does that mean you never had sex?" "Never." "A pity." Moriarty raised his shoulders and turned to Doctor Watson. "How about you doctor. I know you've had several relationships since we've met." "5 months ago." "Run into a dry spree have you now?" "I have a rather busy schedule." "But you have fucked before, right?"

John glared at him, but nodded shortly. "So… One virgin and one fuck boy." For a second it seemed that John was going to react, but he stopped himself. "What about you Elizabeth? Do you have a boyfriend? Or girlfriend? Not judging." He winked at her suggestively. "No." "Tell us about your love life." She really, really, really didn't like the way this conversation was going. "I had one boyfriend 2 years ago, but that didn't work out." "Aww… Too bad." He moved over towards her, and let his voice drop to a whisper. "Did you ever do something naughty with him?" "No."

He chuckled softly. "But you wanted to, didn't you?" "What no!" "Don't lie, sweetheart. I've seen your internet history. You aren't all that innocent." She closed her eyes in pure frustration, of course he had seen her browsing history. "You're a dirty girl aren't you? A curious one at least." Elizabeth felt herself getting redder as he continued.

"So many kinks!" "Do you want me to tell them? Let them know what you like?" She shook her head in reflex, cursing herself at giving him what he wanted. "Okay then. We'll keep it between us two. Our little secret."

She let out a soft sigh, to calm herself down, as her captor moved away from her cage. Sadly she didn't get to stay calm for much longer. "Now I am guessing that you guys have figured out what I'm getting at? I mean, I wasn't as subtle as I could have been." The subject she had been fearing all this time was finally brought up.

"Chances are that Elizabeth will be dead before the end of this game of ours." Her heart was pounding. No, she would be okay. Sherlock and John had promised her that they would get her out. The entire police force of London was on this, they promised. She would be fine.

"It would be a little sad if she ended up a dead virgin, wouldn't it." Oh god no… "And I figured that Sherlock wouldn't be all that experienced, but a virgin. Now that was surprising! You let me down a bit Sherly, I thought you would have at least tried a couple of things. I mean your 34 for fucks sake!" he chuckled loudly.

"So, though I would love it if Sherlock is chosen. I AM going to let you choose. Who is going to 'deflower' Elizabeth? Who will take her virginity?" She felt her stomach drop, even though she could feel it coming, Elizabeth had been holding on Sherlock's words. He had said Moriarty got no satisfaction from sexual acts.

He closed her cage with a little wink and left them alone, to debate their next decision. "I thought you said he didn't want to r…, ra…," she couldn't even get herself to say it, it felt so horrible. She swallowed hard and tried again. "You said he didn't get satisfaction from sex…" "He doesn't." Sherlock retorted.

"But he is going to RAPE ME! OR GOING TO GET ONE OF YOU TO RAPE ME!" her heart was thumping loudly in her chest from the effort. "He doesn't do it for the sex." It came out as a defeated sigh. "He gets a trill from breaking us. Doing that to you could break you, and that is exactly what he wants. So we can't give it to him."

She let out a joyless chuckle. "Of course. Be strong. Don't show him the fact that you can't take this anymore. Don't cry. Don't beg. Don't show him that YOU ARE AFRAID! BUT I AM AFRAID SHERLOCK, I AM SO FUCKING SCARED! I just can't do this anymore…" Her shoulders shagged forward as she started to let out little sobs. "I just want to go back home."

"Elizabeth, please. We have to stay strong." Sherlock tried. "But I'm not. I am not strong. I can't do this anymore." "Lestrade, Mycroft, they are on their way right now. We will get you out." John tried. "We need to continue." She sniffed. "Get it over with." "Elizabeth." "We don't have a lot of time left. We need to make a choice."

The silence that filled the room was a horrible one. But all of them were secretly grateful for it. No one wanted to break it, because they knew that no matter what anyone said, it wouldn't be a pleasant. Sherlock took a deep breath, Elizabeth was right. They should get this over with. "I know this will be hard, very hard. But we have to make the most logical choice. We can't think emotionally."

They nodded. "Okay, okay. What will do the least damage to all of us?" "No, to you. What will do the least damage to you." Said John. "We have to think of the greater good. Not emotionally, logically, remember." "She is right John." "God Sherlock! She is a kid! We have to help her!" "I am not a kid!" "Yes you are Elizabeth. You are only 16 years old, Jesus Christ." "I can make my own decisions!" "Not in this chase, you shouldn't have to! Sherlock please!" John had lost all sense of calmness as he turned to his friend. Desperately hoping that he would just listen.

"John, we can't afford to think like this!" "We have to protect her." "But we can't, can we! We can't do anything, we can't help her! The only thing we can do is make it less horrible!" "There has to be a way!" "But there isn't! We can only hope that Mycroft has found enough clues to get us out of here!" "God damn it Sherlock!" "What do you want me to do?" "I don't know! Anything!" "I can't do anything. I am locked up! Stuck and he has all control!" "We have to…!"

"Shut up!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Dear Anna, great deduction. ;)

 **A/N part 2:** Thank you everyone who has left a review! It really means the world to me!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not know who old Sherlock is exaclty, so tell me if you know!


	5. Chapter 5 - Say my name

**Chapter 14**

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"Shut up!" Both men turned around to look at her. "Stop fighting! I am going to need silence, I need to think." "About what?" "Shhh!" she closed her eyes. She needed to make a choice. Three men, only one good choice. Well actually there is no good choice, there is just one choice that won't harm everyone that badly.

Sherlock? No, no, no, definitely not. He was not an option. He was a virgin, he had never had sex. This couldn't be his first time. Just like she didn't want this to be her first time, this wouldn't be his first time. She would be damned if he had two people at once. No Sherlock was definitely off the list. She took a deep breath, okay one down, two more to go.

Okay, John. Doctor John Watson. Oh god, she didn't want to think about this at all. But she had to, someone had to do that. "Elizabeth, let us help." "Shut up John, please, just let me think. I need to make this decision myself." "You can't." "I have to." "Let her John. Let her do this." John dropped to his seat and placed his face in his hands. He let out a soft hiss in anger and frustration, but he quieted down." Okay, so where was I. John… The doctor had had sex before. He could probably do it. She nearly gagged at the thought. He was terrified, he tried not to show it, but he was failing horribly. The way he had reacted to the whipping, and he hadn't even touch her yet. She couldn't let him do it.

So that left her with one more option. Moriarty. The psychopath that had kidnapped her and was throwing her into terrifying situations, forcing her to her limits. If he did it, if he… If he raped her, it would hurt a lot less people then if anyone else did it. Moriarty had to do it. She nearly puked. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. She didn't want this. SHE DIDN'T WANT THIS! SHE DIDN'T WANT THIS!

"Heeelloooow!" The door slammed open and the sound of wood hitting wood sounded across the room. With a self-confident smiled Moriarty stepped into the room. "That went a lot smoother than I could have even imagined." "What we haven't made a decision yet." "She has." Moriarty moved towards Elizabeth while pointing at her. "She has made up her mind! Like a big girl!" John turned towards her, dread filled his eyes, he was terrified, terrified for her. "We need to talk about this first. She can't make this choice alone." "Oh but she can, she is perfectly capable to think for herself." "This isn't just her choice!" "John, please don't fight him."

"No, he is right Elizabeth. John is right, tell him your decision and let her decide what you want." She merely shook her head. She didn't want this. "Oh come on. You'll have to tell us eventually or I'll make this decision for you." "I don't want this." "Don't lie to me Elizabeth, you wouldn't have made a choice like alone, if you didn't want this." "I don't want this." "Elizabeth, I don't like lies!" "Moriarty, stop this." She was surprised to hear Sherlock speak. He was normally the one who asked for silence. The one who told them not to give in.

"She has to tell us anyway, but that doesn't mean you have to push her like that." He continued. "Oh but Sherlock, you know what I want and you know you can't reason with me. So why try?" "For her sake." Moriarty let out a loud and delighted chuckle. "Aw sentiment, it is truly your biggest weakness." He turned back to her. With a fluent motion he opened the cage door and stepped towards her, so that his nose was nearly touching her own. "So sweetheart, who is it going to be? The detective, the doctor or the evil genius." Elizabeth was trembling, trying very hard not to let her voice falter as she took a deep breath.

"I choose." She stopped to stop herself from gagging. She could hear John whisper her name in a pitiful voice. "Moriarty." She said it in such a low voice that no one could hear it. "Say that again baby doll." "Moriarty." "Elizabeth no." it was John again. "Ohh! Now this is interesting. I did not expect that." It was very clear that he was surprised but delighted. "I would have thought you would have chosen John. Someone with experience who won't hurt you. But I have to say that I am honoured!" He stepped out of the cage and walked towards Sherlock. "Did you see this coming? Cause I didn't see this coming." The detective lowered his eyes. "Oh you did. You know she was going to make this decision and you didn't fight this."

"Sherlock?" John was asking for conformation. "Sherlock. Did you know?" "Yes, John. It was the only possible action." "Why didn't you stop her?!" "Because we had to think logically! Not emotionally, logically!" "Stop fighting!" She let out a strangled sob. "Please stop fighting. Please." She couldn't stand them fighting right now. She needed them to be there for her, together." "You heard mummy fellows, stop fighting and get in line."

John bit his lip but he didn't continue his rant. Sherlock just sat down again. Contend Moriarty moved to the back of the room, to the levers that kept Elizabeth strung as a puppet. With no hesitation he pulled them down, releasing her hands and feet. With a grunted growl she fell to the ground she couldn't catch herself on her hands because they had fallen asleep. She ended face first on the carpet. The fabric stung her open wounds on her stomach that made her scream.

She stayed down, for a second just concentrating on the soft carpet under her finger, the little hairs that tickled the side of her face. Only for a few seconds, to get away from the stinging of her back, the warm blood that had started to drip from her stomach again. She took a deep breath, the rug smelled of dust and ashes, she could smell dirt from dirty shoes and lemon that came from cleaning product. It smelled of blood. It smelled of the blood that had been ripped from her back and stomach that had fallen on to the red carpet only hours before this. She shivered, soon that smell would get worse.

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

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"Come on, we can't do this inside of the cage." He walked inside and gave her his hand. She remembered what had happened the last time he had offered her his hand, what he had done when she had ignored it. But she wasn't ready to touch him yet, instead she pretended she didn't see it and pushed herself up. It was hard, her muscles were completely soar, they were stiff and ripped, her back was ripped to shreds and her stomach had been completely been ruined. But she got up.

Shacking she grabbed the bars of the cage and stood up. Making her way out of the cage. Moriarty smiled, out of context it would have been a kind smiled, one of encouragement, but it was mocking. He made room and beckoned her forward, so that she was standing in the middle of the room, between the three cages. She had let go of the cage to stand closer, she stumbled and her legs were trembling, but she managed to stand still. Moriarty grabbed the gun from her belt and pulled it out and stretched his arms out. He was pointing the gun at John, a clear threat, don't do anything stupid.

"Undress me." She didn't move. "I said: undress me." He cocked his gun, turning of the safety. She moved forward till she could touch his jacket. She started to unbutton his dark blue jacket, button by button, as slowly as she could. He took a step closer, making her stop. His hand ran through her hair as she pulled down his Westwood jacket. A tear managed to fall down the side of her face as she tried to untie his tie. Elizabeth had never tied or untied a tie, so this was difficult, she couldn't get it loos, and especially not when her hands were shaking uncontrollably. "Let me help." He grabbed one of her hands and manipulated her fingers around them. "Now pull." She did as she was told and the tie came loose. He pulled it over her head and threw it on the ground.

She moved to his white shirt. Carefully she unbuttoned it, she shuddered when she touched his flesh. He shrugged the fabric of his shoulder, leaving his chest bare. His skin was white and clean, he had muscles but they weren't anything special. "Like what you see?" she didn't dignify that with an answer. Moriarty placed his hand on his shoulder and pushed. She complied and fell to her knees. She unlashed his black polished shoes easily and pulled of the thick woollen socks.

She tried to get back up, but couldn't manage. Her legs weren't strong enough. "Need a hand?" "No." she tried again, but she couldn't, the fact that she didn't want it either, didn't help. "Come on, I am getting impatient." She grabbed pushed herself up and got up halfway. She had to grab his hips to steady herself and stand up. She was leaning against him as she tried to balance. "Oh! Eager." He pulled her in closer.

Quickly she pushed herself of him, he had to keep her hands on his chest to keep from falling over. Elizabeth hated the fact that she was the weak. She moved her hands to his belt and unbuckled it. His pants fell down with a little shove and he stepped out of them. Moriarty stood there in his white boxer with a noticeable bulge with his arms spread out and yet he still looked so powerful and dangerous.

"You are staring." He sang. She was, she was staring in horror. This couldn't be real. Carefully she moved her hands to the boxer, to pull it down. "No, not yet. First you." He walked towards her and turned around. The dress was ruined, but it was still holding. He unzipped her dress and pulled it down her body. "Agh!" the wounds on her back had started to close, the blood had clotted and was stuck with the dress. Pulling it of ripped them open again. "Oeps." Instinctively she tried to cover her body with her hands. "Shh, calm down. You'll be alright." Moriarty was trailing the gun and his hands over her body.

He unclasped her bra. She kept it on, keeping it in place with her hands. "Drop it." She did. The bra hit the ground with a soft thumb and she was crying now. A soft hiss came from behind her, the sound of a knife leaving its sheath. "No, no, no, no, no." it was only a soft whisper, a prayer of sort but he heard. The knife pressed against her legs as he cut off the black underwear. She was naked.

Moriarty moved back, his eyes roaming her body. "Beautiful." Her eyes were fixated on the ground but it didn't help. He saw his legs and saw the white fabric coming down them. "Absolutely marvellous." She looked up towards Sherlock, he had been staring. Not at everything, just the markings on her stomach. He looked sick, his bright eyes made contact with hers. He tried to help her, he tried to make her feel better, or at least he wanted to. There wasn't a lot you could do in this situation.

She didn't dare to look at John, she couldn't handle the panic and despair that would be in his. So she looked back at Moriarty, in his eyes. She straightened her back as much as she could without falling back down. "If you want to make this less painful for yourself, you can." He said, he looked down at himself, before looking back at her. She knew what he wanted, but she would be damned if she took him like that. So she didn't move. "Suit yourself, let's get this party started."

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

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"Elizabeth listen to me. Try not to think about it, think about anything, anything else." "Sherlock, please shut up." "Listen to me Elizabeth, try to get out of your own mind." "Sherlock, I am warning you." It was a hiss, a threat. "Think about home. Think about a place that you love, where you feel calm and safe. Think about…" A loud band came from nowhere. A horrible sound followed by a cry of pain. "John!" Moriarty had pulled the trigger, and shot John in the knee. "John! John! Are you alright!"

The doctor had collapsed and was holding on his knee. "Don't worry but I'm not going to kill him, he might need his cane back though." "I'm fine Sherlock." He wasn't. He was shaking, his face had gone completely white as he ripped of part of his shirt. "I'm fine, I'm fine." "John." It had been a whisper that barely escaped her lips. Seeing someone get shot was not something she had seen before and the sound of bones snapping had been horrible.

"I'm fine." "Sure you are Doctor. Now Elizabeth. Are you ready?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. "No, please, no, please, no, please." She continued it as a mantra. "Oh, but yes. It will be fine. I'll make sure you enjoy it as well." They were standing next to the bed. "Lie down." She crawled onto the bed moving, as far back till she was pressed against the headboard, her legs pulled against her chest. He crawled onto the sheets moving towards her.

He grabbed her legs and pulled them from under her. Her head hit the wood as reaction of the violent movement. "No, no, no, no. Please don't. I don't want this!" she tried to push herself away using the sheets, but that didn't help her. She was underneath him now, her legs between his knees. She tried to hit him with everything she had, but he simply caught her hands. He laughed delight at her attempts to stop him.

He pinned her hands above her head and leaned in. "You only have one option, you either do exactly what I say or I get another girl to take your place and we start again. Do you want that?" "I don't want this!" "I don't care!" He pressed his lips firmly onto hers, kissing her forcefully. She was screaming internally as his body pressed into hers, his erection pressing into her thighs. He bit down onto her under lip making her bleed, she opened her mouth and his tong slipped in.

It felt horrible, alien. So she did the only thing that seemed logical and she bit down hard, breaking skin. Her mouth already tasted like blood, but now it was being flooded. He didn't retreat though, he didn't stop. He didn't mind, the pain, he didn't seem to feel it. Finally he pulled away, she spit out the blood gasping for breath. "Ah, ah, ah. Not what I wanted Elizabeth." He brought down his fist into her stomach, again, and again. "Now behave, will you." In response she spit into his face.

Within seconds he had her by the throat, slowly pressing, cutting of her oxidant. "Stop." It came out strangled, because it was. "Moriarty!" it was Sherlock. "Stop!" He didn't. She was kicking and punching him, clawing at his eyes. "Stop Moriarty." She couldn't breathe anymore he leaned forward and kissed her again. This time she couldn't do anything. His lips were still on her, his hands still tightly around her neck. When he pulled away the edges of her vision were starting to become black. She could hear Sherlock and John screaming at Moriarty to stop, but she couldn't make out the words.

"How I hate doing the dirty work. You know I could just keep on pushing till you fall apart. Till your heart stops beating. If you don't do exactly what I say, I'll pick up another little girl from the streets, maybe your sister." He pushed a little harder, squeezing his hands tighter. "So will you behave?" she nodded quickly her hands were scratching at his, her eyes pleading. He held her for just a little longer before finally letting her go. "Good."

She sat up coughing loudly trying to get as much air as possible when he grabbed her air and kissed her again. She wanted to fight but concentrated on breathing through her nose and letting him do what he wanted. When his teeth touched her lips she opened it obediently. He hummed happily, enjoying the sensation. Moriarty was moving his hips against her legs, showing him that he was ready.

His hands ran down her body, one grabbed her breast and started to pinch and pull her nipple. The other one started to inch downwards. She let out a little whimper as he started to kiss her jaw and neck. He knew what he was doing as she was having trouble letting out little sighs of pleasures. His lips moved further towards her collarbone and further down. His lips wrapped around her other nipple. He suckled and bit. In the beginning it hurt, but it started to feel good. A warm sensation started to move down and she couldn't help herself as a little moan escaped her lips, quickly followed by a whimper of fear.

His other hand was slowly trailing the insides of her legs, slowly touching her. Suddenly he pushed his hand flat against her core. She stopped moving, she didn't even breathe. Suddenly a finger pushed its way in. "No!" she moved to stop him but he merely glared. "Good girl." She heard Dr. Watson swear, Elizabeth had forgotten that they were here, that they were watching, that they could see and hear everything. This made her want to close her legs even more but Moriarty had his legs between her knees.

While she had been distracted he pushed another finger in. Though the first one had been surprising the second one was downright painful. She screamed as he moved them, he only pushed her down and kissed her again, enjoying the sound of her screams against his lips. She felt something warm drip from her legs, blood. "Ready." He grunted as he pulled his fingers out. Moriarty grabbed her legs and pulled her closer, lifting them so they were over his shoulders. She winched at the strain it put on her back.

"Moriarty don't" John's voice was broken but it didn't help anyone. "Hush, little doctor. Don't you cry, or she'll die." He didn't warn her as he slammed into her. Crying out her entire body went rigged as pain filled her body. It felt as she was being ripped in half. "Stop!" she yelled as he slammed back in again. He only answered by laughing like a maniac. He grabbed her hair and pulled her up, making her body curve into an impossible position. "Enjoy this little Elizabeth, enjoy it while it last. You'll never get a first time again." He whispered into her ear. "Elizabeth!" it was Sherlock this time. "Focus on my voice! Don't listen to him! Listen to me!" "You wanted this. You choose this. You could have walked away. You didn't have to come with me, you didn't have to choose me, but you did." "This isn't your fault, didn't have a choice."

Her screams echoed through the room, she couldn't concentrate, she only heard Moriarty whisper in her ear. She could hear Sherlock screaming her name, but she couldn't concentrate on it. "Stop it please!" he started to move slower, deliberately. For a second she thought he would stop. For one glorious and beautiful second, but she was wrong. One hand kept her head up while the other one moved to her clit. He was trying to make her feel things.

His thumb moved over her slowly making her feel things she had never felt before. "Stop it!" "Oh, but you are going to like the next part he said. He shoved her back down and kissed her eagerly. He let go of her lips and started to kiss her neck. "You are mine." She started to feel good, a moan escaped her lips before she could stop it. "You are nothing." His thrust were getting stronger again, but they weren't hurting as much anymore, they were starting to feel good.

"Please stop it. I don't want this!" "Yes you do. You like this, you are enjoying this." "No I don't!" but her body was starting to betray her. Her hips were moving on their own, they were meeting his thrust, begging for more. She bit her lip trying to keep her moans from leaving her lips. "You are my play thing and you wanted this." She was dimly aware that Sherlock was still yelling her name but it didn't matter anymore. Her hands were gripping the sheets as pleasure started to build. "Say my name."

"No!" "Say my name! Or I shoot your little doctor again." She couldn't stop herself from groaning louder. Her body wanted this, it craved it. "Please." It was meant to be a beg to make him stop, but it came out as a moan. "Say my name." Moriarty was moving faster, his head resting against her own as he too started to moan. "Say my name!" "No!" she groaned as the heat was building up. "No!" he bit her in the shoulder, she cried out. "Moriarty!" as her skin broke. She could feel him grin against her skin. He pulled away and pressed his lips against her ear. She kept moaned loudly as she came, a sensation like nothing before filled her. Pure pleasure ripped through her skin. He didn't stop as he continued to move, keeping the pleasure running through her body. His thrusts became less strong and a lot wilder as he too started to build. " _Elizabeth_." It was a moaned whisper that filled her ear as she felt him come. She could feel his warmth spreading inside of her as he rid out her pleasure.

Suddenly she came back from the high she realised what had just happened. Moriarty had slumped on top of her not, moving, still groaning. Oh god no, oh dear god no, please no. She started to cry, sobs leaving her lips as his cum started to leak out of her, mixed with blood. "Oh god no." she cried out. "Oh god yes." Moriarty hissed. Suddenly she felt bile rising from her throat, she was going to puke. Moriarty seemed to sense this as he rolled of her onto the clean side of the bed. She jumped of the bed and fell on her hands and knees. She hadn't eaten anything in a long time but she gagged anyway. Nothing but bile and spit came out. But everything felt so very wrong, her body was hurting, nothing would ever feel the same again. Never.

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 **A/N:** Thank you to everyone who left a comment! I appreciate it so much you have no idea! Sorry it took so long for me to post choices 5 but I had a very busy period and didn't have a lot of time to write!

 **A/N:** Who saw season 4 of Sherlock? Was it awesome? Yes it was! Did I fall from the chair in excitement? Yes I did!

 **Disclaimer:** Sadly I do not own Sherlock yet. I am working on it but it is taking longer than I suspected. I have to say though, I'd keep Mark Gattiss and Steven Moffat on the theme, and they are awesome!


	6. Chapter 6 - A manicure and makeover

**A/N:** I hope you like the next instalment of Choices!

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

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Moriarty lifted himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, slamming them down next to Elizabeth's quivering form. She was still heaving, she couldn't help herself. Her entire skin was on fire with his touch, she could feel his hands all over her body. "There, there." He placed his hand between her shoulder blades, patting her skin softly. She let out another pained and little sob, shrinking away from his pale fingers. The criminal let out a little chuckle as he lifted his hand from her back and walked away. Elizabeth curled up into a little ball, her arms tightly around her legs. She could hear the shuffling behind her as Moriarty picked up his underwear and slid them back on. Carelessly he picked up the dress that he had taken off. "Well this is completely ruined." The dress was ripped to shreds from where Johns whip had hit it, it was completely drenched in blood. Yeah so, Moriarty was right, it was ruined. He threw it into the dying fire with little regard.

Elizabeth slowly got up. Pure anger was growing in the pit of her stomach as he spoke. "You know, it has been forever sense I've had a good fuck like that." He stretched calmly, as if what had just happened was completely normal. "For your first time, you did very well. I always forget how good a virgin feels." He tossed her bra into the fire while he spoke. Elizabeth hated him so much, her entire body hurt because of him, her entire life had been thrown upside down in just a couple of days, and he was laughing at her. She pushed herself up to her feet, holding on to the side of the bed, she crept forward as silently as possible. Moriarty had her back to her, his board white shoulders where hunched forward as he busied himself with his pants.

She looked around, his gun had apparently dropped down a bit in front of Moriarty, and there was no way that she could grabbed it without him noticing it. So she wouldn't go for the gun. "You know John, I'd let you have a go with her, but with your leg, I think that would be a little difficult." He let out another delighted laugh. She was just behind him when he let out a little laugh. Growling loudly she leaped forward, throwing Moriarty of balance. They hit the ground with a loud grown. The criminal let out loud fuck, as she slammed his head onto the ground as hard as she could. Elizabeth ran towards the gun, but Moriarty got a hold of her hair, pulling her back down. She kicked him in the face before he could do anything and scrambled forward. Her fingers rapped around the cold handle of the gun, she spinned around on her knees the pointing the barrel of the gun at him.

Her entire body was shaking and she had to take a couple of deep breaths, but she was in control now. He couldn't do anything to her now, she had the gun, and he had to do what she told him. "Now, now, let us not do anything rash." He was still smiling as he said it. "Give me the gun Elizabeth and no one will get hurt." His hand was stretched out, as if he was expecting her to do what he said. "Throw the keys to Sherlock." It came out shaky and breathless, but it didn't matter. Elizabeth wanted to get up, she wanted to stand up, but that hurt too much, so she stayed on her knees. "The gun now." "Give the keys." Moriarty who had still been lying down slowly got up.

"No, stay down!" "The keys are in my jacket." "Then throw the jacket to Sherlock. But he didn't move towards the jacket, he waked forward. "What are you doing?" "Elizabeth, give me the gun." "Another step and I shoot." She threatened. "You won't kill anyone, not even me." He was grinning now as he took moved closer. She pulled the trigger.

There was no loud bang, like there had been with John. Moriarty didn't cry out or fall to the ground. Nothing happened. Elizabeth pulled the trigger again, and again, and again. Nothing. "Oh god." John exclaimed. She dropped the gun and tried to stand up again. She moved towards the door, stumbling. In the corner of her eyes she saw him sauntering away, towards his jacket. She made it to the door, grabbing the doorknob she pulled it open. It was open! She started towards the stairs when suddenly pain ran through her body. It started at her neck but quickly ran through every fibre of her body.

Screaming she fell down, just in front of the staircase, her escape, only a couple steps forward. Once the pain subsided a bit she scrambled to her knees in an attempt to get away. But the pain just started again. "Noooo!" "Ah, ah, ah. You are not going anywhere just yet. I'm not done with you yet." Moriarty toward over her, his eyes bright with anger, he was holding onto a little button. Her hands flew to her to the collar around her neck. With a vicious growl he grabbed her hair and pulled her up. He threw her back into the room, she moved to get away from him, but he pushed her down with his foot. Slamming it on her back so that she hit the carpet. "Do you honestly think I would be that stupid? To leave a gun out, in the open like that! You think I wouldn't realise what is going to happen! I can deduce everything! Especially a small and simple minded creature like you."

He kicked her in her side. "I just wanted to know if you would actually be prepared to kill someone! I'll be sure to remember that for later." The next angry kick was directed at her face. She managed to shield it just in time, his foot hitting her arm instead. Apparently he was satisfied with this for now. He squared his shoulders and walked away. He tossed her ripped underwear in the fire and grabbed his shirt. Moriarty started to dress himself as Elizabeth stopped moving. She couldn't anymore, she couldn't get herself to sit up or move anymore. She couldn't win, not anymore. "I'll have Peter to bring you some new clothes, and to get the fire going again." And with that he left the room.

"Elizabeth?" Sherlock whispered. She didn't move, or answer. "Elizabeth are you okay?" Sherlock clearly didn't know how to act. This made her laugh, manically. She was hysterical, laughing incredibly loud, but staying crumpled up on the floor. It didn't take long before her laughing turned into frantic sobs. "No, I am definitely not okay."

It only took Peter a couple of minutes before he walked into the room. He was holding a bucket of water and a little bag. He took care not to look at her, she was probably not the nicest thing to look at, at the moment, all curled up into a little ball, her naked body all covered in blood. "Please sit up, Moriarty told me to clean you up." She stayed down. "Please sit up." She couldn't get up, and she wouldn't get up. "Elizabeth, you need to get up now." Peter started to move forward, making his way to her curled up form. His touch was gentle but that didn't really matter, the second he touched her she lashed out. He kicked him right into the chest making him fly back. Peter landed with a grunt, she scrambled up and ran towards the window. She tried to open the window, but was failing miserable. Peter had gotten up, with his hands outstretched he approached her. "Elizabeth, calm down." She felt impossibly cornered by the man. He reached her and grabbed her by the arm, immediately she started to scream and attempted to hit him. Peter blocked her punch and grabbed her arms securing her against his chest, she was kicking, and biting everything she could do.

"Let her go you dimwit! You're giving her a panic attack!" John growled he noticed her breathing faster and faster, not able to calm down. Listening to the doctor he let her go. She ran as far away as she could, her eyes were spread wide, clearly terrified. She was having trouble focusing. Peter stayed at a safe distance, allowing her to calm down before approaching her again. He picked up a sponge that had been lying inside of the water filled bucket and returned approached her again. "No, no, don't touch me." "I need to clean you." "I'll do it myself." Peter hesitated for a couple of seconds, but he put down the bucket and turned away. She carefully picked up the sponge. "Turn around Peter." Sherlock commanded.

When all the men turned around, she softly began to clean the blood of the inside of her thighs, the blood had only started to dry, so it didn't take long for her to wipe herself clean. She proceeded to carefully clean the wounds on her stomach. It was a pleasant surprise not to have a salt water for once. She sighed contently when the red water dripped down her body, she tried to get her back as well, but the movement only hurt, she couldn't reach it anyway. "Done?" Peter half turned around, "No, please don't turn around." "You need to get dressed." "I'll do it myself." The only other thing Peter had brought with him was the bag, she opened it up to find a pair of simple white underwear and a black shirt.

Quickly she put it on, but as soon as she did she wanted to take it of again. The shirt smelled of him. "Are you done yet? I need to get going or he'll get angry." For a second she considered this, did Moriarty hurt him too? "Yes, I'm ready." Her legs were still bare but it was a lot better than before, even if that meant she smelled of him now. "You have to get back in your cage now." She shook her head, not yet, she wasn't ready to be suspended yet again. Her heart was only starting to calm down. "Don't fight me." Thinking fast she remembered something else. "Moriarty said you were going to relight the fire." "I am." "Do that first." He hesitated for a second. "Please Peter, let me stay out for a little while longer." "Fine. Just sit on the bed." She did as she was told, she straightened herself, stretching her cramped arms and legs a bit.

Even though she was still horrified, terrified and in pain, at least she could just breath for a little longer. She turned to John. "Are you alright?" "What?" "Are you alright? You got shoot remember." It seemed as if he had indeed forgot about that for a little while. He reached down and touched his knee. The wound had stopped bleeding, but apparently it still hurt a lot. "Yeah, I am fine. I am okay." Did he hit you badly?" John let out a little joyless and surprised laugh. "You have gone through hell, and yet you still ask about others." Elizabeth looked confused for a second, wasn't that normal, to ask how someone was doing. Still looking at her he smiled softly. "Don't worry about it, I've seen worse. It'll heal." She let out a relieved little breath. At least he was alright. When she turned to Sherlock, he merely raised a hand. "Don't worry about me, he hasn't touched me yet."

"I am sorry Elizabeth." Peter spoke up. "But I need you to get into the cage now." The fire was roaring again. She shuddered to think about it. She pushed herself up, but the adrenaline had left her system now and her entire body was hurting like nothing before. Her insides were on fire. "Let me help you." "No, I'll do it myself." He raised her eyebrow at this and grabbed her arm. She flinched when he grabbed her but allowed him to help her back into her cell. The chains wrapped around her ankles and wrists, they pulled her upwards and kept her in place. She let out a soft shudder when she found herself strung up like a doll.

Elizabeth closed, but she opened them quickly again. Behind her closed lids she could see Moriarty. She could see his face, feel his touch and hear him whisper her name. She knew why he had done that, why he had whispered her name into his ears. He had done that so that whenever she made love, whenever she slept with someone, and they whispered her name she would remember him. If someone whispered sweet nothings in her ear, she'd feel his warm breath graze the shell of her ear. "The fucker."

"Elizabeth." It was Sherlock soft voice. "We will get out." She just sighed. "No we won't." she didn't believe it anymore. If they would ever get out, if they ever escaped, it wouldn't be with her. She might get out alive, yeah, but she would never get out again. "My brother," "Yes, yes, I know. He is looking for us, we will get out. How long will it take? How many more little sessions will there be?" "You need to continue believing. You need to keep hopeful." John spoke up. She scuffed. It was easy to talk, but her entire body was tingling, no not tingling, it was on fire. Not just the wounds, but every place that Moriarty had touched.

Sherlock was going to start again, to convince her that she'd be okay, but John threw him a look. So they let her be. For a little while the only sound in the room was the crackling of the fire. The sound was soothing. She closed her eyes again. "I want to go home." It was a broken little sound, and she couldn't keep herself from making it. She hated the fact that she was this pitiful, this helpful, but what could she do.

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

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The seconds ticked by, the minutes, the hours. The fire burned and the wind blew leafs against the window, their soft breaths filled the room. She wanted someone to talk to her, she didn't know what she wanted to hear. She wanted someone to tell her that everything would be okay, but she knew she wouldn't believe them. She wanted someone to tell her that they would get home soon, but she knew she wouldn't believe them. She wanted someone to tell her that Moriarty wouldn't win, but she knew she wouldn't believe them.

"You know, this isn't the first time Moriarty has kidnapped me." John suddenly spoke up. Elizabeth lifted her head curiously, what was he doing? "I had only met Sherlock a couple of weeks before hand and I was on a date with this woman, Sarah." John continued his story, and Elizabeth found herself distracted from her current position just enough to have her calm down. He told her about the time he was kidnapped because someone thought he was Sherlock, the time he had been kidnapped and Sherlock had ripped of his clothes. He proceeded to tell her about the time Sherlock had drugged him and the time that Sherlock had tricked him into not using his cane anymore.

While the young girl listened, her eyes darted to Sherlock. The detective was leaning against the bars of his cell, listening to the doctor telling them about their adventures, he too seemed to be relaxed. She couldn't help but smile when he told them about Sherlock's habits and the way he could sulk. John chuckled when he Sherlock told him to stop lying about how frustrating he was. For a few blissful minutes, her limbs didn't ach, her body wasn't on fire and her breathing was normal. She wished it got to take longer.

The door creaked open, at first she didn't even notice it. Her attention was fixed on John, it was Sherlock who turned around. The sun had settled so the only light came from the fireplace, it didn't really reach the far end of the room where the door had just opened. She pulled her gaze away and saw a slitter of light coming from the slightly ajar door. In that light stood Moriarty with a bemused gave on his face, he too had been listening to the doctor speaking. John, noticing that the attention had left him, turned to see what had grabbed it. He fell silent in the middle of telling them about the time Molly's cat had attacked the master criminal mind when he noticed that that mastermind was standing in the room. "Oh don't stop on my account." But he stayed quite.

Shrugging his shoulders he pushed himself of the doorframe. "Before you all go night nigh I would like you to make one more little decision." That was all it took for her body to remember that it was in pain. She took a deep breath as the panic started to make its way back into her system, it was by turning to John that she regained her composure, his eyes were calm and collected, his stories had made Moriarty less unknown. John had told her about Moriarty's little games and the way Sherlock had cracked each and every one of them, it made Moriarty less horrible. Just a bit, but the knowledge that he could be beaten made her heart beat slowly down just enough so that she could breathe again.

"For my next trick I'll need a volunteer, someone with a steady hand." He was holding a riding crop in his hand, softly tapping against his leg. The idea of what he could do that made her back skin curl up horribly. Noticing her glancing nervously at the whip he smiled. "Ah, caught your eye did it." He played with it for a little while. "Don't worry my dear, I don't like repeating things so this isn't for you. She was still eying it curiously, if it wasn't for her then for who? "Now what we will need to do is simple, there will be need for physical contact." This made her heart beat harder again, the words physical contact terrified her. "No, no, no, like I said, no repeating." He said when she shivered.

"Someone will have to snap Elizabeth's little arm. A comminute fracture my dears." This shocked everyone, this was extremely raw and brutal. There was no fines or elegant, it wasn't even like the whipping, it was so primitive. "You'll get to choose who and which arm." He looked at them smiled and walked away. Nope, she wasn't going to do this again, she wasn't going to make a choice. "No." Moriarty stopped and turned around. "What did you say sweetheart?" "I said no. I have had enough of this." "Sadly my dear, you do not really have a choice."

"We are not going to make a choice, not anymore." "In that case, you certainly won't get to choose." He opened the iron door, metal slamming against metal. Out of his pocket he pulled out the gag he had used on her before. He pressed his fingers against her jaws and shoved the gag into her mouth. She attempted to bit him and keep the rubber ball out of her mouth, this of course failed. "Now Sherlock, John, the decision is up to you." He left the cage open and left all of them in the room. "Elizabeth, I told you not to provoke her." Sherlock yelled angrily, there was worry in his voice when he said this to her. He ruffled up his hair and started to say something to John.

"I know, I know Sherlock." Sherlock cocked his head, his eyes were filled with sorrow. "I am sorry John." "No need Sherlock." She had an inkling who had been chosen. Elizabeth managed to let out a muffled sound, getting their attention she raised her eyebrows. "I'll do it." She shook her head, she wanted to say no shit, but that was hard when she couldn't even breathe properly. They looked confused for a second, what did she want them to know. God. She looked at her own wrist and then to her elbow and then back at them. John still looked confused, but Sherlock realised what she wanted. "Oh a comminute fracture…"

Elizabeth nodded. Yes, that. What was that? John caught on and started to explain, but then he stopped for just a second. He sighed deeply. "A comminute fracture is when a bone is broken into different pieces." She lifted her eyebrows, continue he said. John was having a hard time to continuing so Sherlock took it over. "It is not an easy thing to do, break an arm by your own hand, especially a comminute fracture. I might be able to do it, but I am not entirely sure, John on the other hand." This was apparently Moriarty's cue to enter. "John is an army doctor, which means he can break every bone in your body while naming them."

She swallowed hard at his words. Johns downwards glance confirmed that Moriarty was not lying. Without a lot of show he lowered her down from the chains and yet again unchained her. She backed away in instinct, her back pressed against the cold bars of her cage. Her eyes scanned his body, now that he was this close with and in the light she could see his face clearly, she would be lying if she didn't say that the small bruise on the top of his brow didn't please her. To her surprise Moriarty left her there and went to John. He didn't hesitate when he opened the door of his cage, as if he knew all along who was going to be chosen. Moriarty waved at her. "Come along Elizabeth, don't make this harder than it has to be." She moved her hands behind the back of her head and undid the clasp of the gag. She licked her lips but moved forward softly.

Moriarty moved to the side and let her step into the cage with John. The second she entered John pulled her down into a hug. She stiffened, her heart raced impossibly fast. Moriarty was pressed against her, his hands holding onto her hips, pulling her up against him. She nearly screamed but John quickly let go. "Oh, god sorry! I didn't mean to." But she just shook her head. "It is alright. Don't worry about it." They could hear Moriarty sigh impatiently. John looked up to her, he was still seated on a little wooden stool, his wounded leg outstretched.

"Could you?" she nodded and sat down onto her knees. "With which arm do you write?" "Right one." He grabbed her left arm and placed it on her knees. She swallowed hard and her entire arm was trembling. He held her hand for a couple of seconds and smiled sadly. "I'll try to make it as quick and painless as I can." She nodded. John turned to Moriarty, surprising her when he addressed him. "Can I get the gag please?" Elizabeth pulled her arm away when that question left his lips. "What?" "No, no, it is to protect your teeth and tongue, so you can bit down without injuring yourself. "Sorry doctor, but I would like to hear her scream, and a gag will only get in the way of that."

John sat up more straight, his shoulders squaring as his eyes filled with a silent raze that made her happy he wasn't anger at her. Moriarty didn't seem fazed by it though. He rolled up her sleeve so that her upper arm was bare. Without thinking she buried her head in his shoulder. The position was very uncomfortable, but that was the least of her worries. Johns placed his hand on the top of her head for just a couple of seconds as she shook. "Try not to bite your tongue Elizabeth, it is very important." She nodded slightly.

He took her arm and place her forearm over his uninjured knee. Moriarty let out an approving sound as she felt his fingers tighten on her flesh. "Okay Elizabeth, brace yourself. I'll count to three. She shuddered at the thought and pressed closer into his shoulder. "One." Just as she sucked in a shaking breath his hands tightened and he slammed down. She screamed in surprise first as he slammed her arm down onto his knee, but then the scream turned into one of immense pain as the bones started to give. It didn't just snap, it bended as John applied an immense amount of pressure. She tried to pull away, but the doctor had an iron grip on her arm. The pain grew as the bone started to crack.

It only took a couple of seconds but it felt like forever when suddenly a loud snap filled the room as the bone lost the fight. She could feel the bone in her arm breaking, she could feel it shattering into fragments as it gave away. The pain was horrible, every movement of her arm sent out another fresh wave of pain. John kept his hold on her arm, trying his best to keep it still. "Elizabeth!" he could hear her yell, but it didn't register yet. "Elizabeth! Stop moving!" She tried to stop herself but she was shaking and twitching in the doctor's grip in reflex. "Elizabeth stop it now!"

His tone was commanding, it didn't leave room for doubt, or questioning. She managed to still herself a tiny bit. Her body was still shaking slightly, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. She raised her eyes slightly, making eye contact with the doctor. His grip on her arm was relentless, but his form calmed slightly. "I need to set it back, to tie it up, so that you don't hurt yourself even more." "Ah, ah, ah, wait a second." Moriarty tusked "I do not agree with that statement my little doctor." John cocked his head, an angry scowl forming on his lips. "You will not stop me from treating her." It came out a threat. "Yes, I will." He pulled out the little box with the little red button, the box that would send electricity through her entire body. "Let her go, John." "John, please." She knew what would happen if Moriarty pressed the button. She wouldn't just get electrocuted, but her spasms would only make her arm worse, adding to the pain. He let her go. Elizabeth grabbed hold of her shoulder, keeping her broken hand in place.

A little wave was all Moriarty had to do to beckon her towards him. "And back into the cage we go." He cheered placing his hand on her lower back, guiding her through the door. He chained her legs again and moved to grab her wrist. "Don't." Rolling his eyes he yanked her good arm away from her body and put it in one of the cuffs. To everyone's surprise he was careful when he took her other arm, only touching her elbow. He chained her wrist but made sure he didn't move her fingers. He pulled the levers, but not to the same extend as before. She could still stand on her toes. He smiled at them and turned around, walking away and slamming the door shut.

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

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"Somehow I expected worse." Sherlock looked her up and down. John threw up his hands in a way that screamed frustration. "Really Sherlock? You expected worse?" the growl was low and dangerous. "He could have made it a lot worse." John was about to go off but Elizabeth stopped him. "Leave him be John. He doesn't mean it like that." "No I don't mean that what you are going through is horrible, but I am worried. Why didn't he do more? He could have made it so much worse, but he didn't. Why?" "Does it matter?" "Yes, of course it matter? Why would he make it less hurtful? He has no reason for that!"

Her mind went to all kinds of dark places, why would he do that? Before her mind could actually go into deeper horrors John stopped her. "Don't Elizabeth. It won't help. Worrying means suffering twice. And you are already suffering enough." She shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position, it only made her arm hurt again.

She wished that John would continue telling her stories about their past, or anything real. She wouldn't even mind if he recited the entire history of banana bread if that meant she could escape what was happening right now. John, however, stayed quiet, he was staring at the window. The sun had gone down again, another day had past. She had been here for 3 days now. It left like weeks now, there was nothing that didn't hurt at this point.

Her throat was very dry, they hadn't gotten anything to drink since yesterday. She hadn't even thought to get some water when she had washed herself and regretted that quite a bit now. "I suggest we sleep a little. Or at least get some rest. He said that he was almost done, it will is probably nearly over." For a second she thought about sleeping, but she couldn't even get herself to close her eyes anymore. Sherlock himself curled up onto his side and closed his eyes, he was going to try to get some sleep she figured. John was staring at him, as if he couldn't understand how he could sleep. John rested his back against the cage, he was rubbing his leg soothing the pain. He ripped of another part of his shirt and bandaged his leg. "I am so sorry I can't help you." He said, his voice low, not to wake up Sherlock."

She shrugged, she didn't think she would be capable to bandage her fingers. She turned to the fire, since Moriarty rekindled the fire it was burning wildly. Elizabeth stared at the roaring flames, listening to the crackling and snapping. Now that the chains weren't straining her so much she could lean her head against the bars. Like before it managed to calm her nerves enough that she could close her eyes again. She tensed when she heard a new sound coming from in front of her. It came from John, he was humming to himself, she didn't recognise the tone, but it was calming. She closed her eyes and moved with the music, it sounded a lot like a lullaby. He was singing her to sleep, she chuckled slightly at the thought, but it seemed to be working.

The sun pierced her closed eyelids and she groaned awake. She had a bit of trouble concentrating. Where was she? Oh, right. The cage. Elizabeth felt her stomach drop, she was still here. Where the other two awake yet? Sherlock and John were talking softly, she strained to listen, but they heard the soft clanging of her chains and stopped. "Hello Elizabeth." John looked tired, he didn't seem to have slept at all. She nodded. "Does anyone know how late it is?" she hated not having a sense of time. The last couple of days had been a haze of pain and fear.

"It's 8 am to be precise." "How do you know that?" Sherlock let out a small smile and pointed to the shadows of his cage. "It is just the simple logic of a sun clock." She raised her eyebrows and he explained it. She heard about it before, but he explained it a little differently, with a story of him with Mycroft. Just like with John before, she let herself dream away. They fell into a comfortable rhyme, she would tell them little stories about her own life. It didn't escape her notion that John and Sherlock would share quick glances or the way that their smiles would disappear when they thought she wasn't looking at them.

Elizabeth glanced to the door, nervously. As if sensing her thoughts the doors swung open. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to believe that it was just the wind. "Don't worry dear. In a couple of hours you won't have to look at me for a very long time, Elizabeth." His voice was sickening sweet, but it filled her with hope. She could survive a couple more hours. She steadied herself and opened her eyes. He had a metal pool in his hand, he threw it in the fire, smiled and walked out. "What?" she asked the rest. "Just happened?"

"I think this is the last choice." Sherlock gestured at the glowing pool. She took a better look at it. At the far end there was a small circle. It formed two little letters a J and an M. It looked like a branding tool for cattle. A way for their owners to know which cow belongs to who. She hissed a string of curses under her breath. "I'll do it." Sherlock offered. They didn't argue. John seemed slightly shamed that he didn't offer to do it himself, but he looked so worn out. She found it strange that he was so affected, surely he had seen worse things during the war. "Do you think he'll let us go after this?" she was naïve for asking, she knew that, but she had to ask. "Yes, I am sure." A lie. Even she could deduce that.

"Alright. Let's get this over with." She cleared her throat, and yelled. "Moriarty!" "Elizabeth. What are you doing?" "Getting this over with John!" "I am most definitely not used to getting called." Moriarty smiled wickedly as he practically skipped inside. "But your wish is my command." His bow was a mocking one, but he grabbed his keys and opened Sherlock's cage and gave him a glove. They waited for him to opened Elizabeth's cage so that they could proceed. Moriarty moved to the levers and jerked at it, she winched as her broken arm was pulled up.

"When a farm brands his cattle, they tie them up, so that they can't run away. They put them in a contraction that keeps them still, so that they don't get hurt. They don't go into the cage with the cow, because they might get kicked." Sherlock nodded and put on the black glove. "Careful, it is hot." He took the pool and moved to Elizabeth, he opened her mouth but she was faster. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Brace yourself." Sherlock let out a joyless laugh and nodded. "Her hip." Moriarty instructed. The overgrown shirt she was wearing came over her hip, so Sherlock reached between the bars to push it to the side. She starred at the branding tool, it was red, like in the movies. Sherlock placed it between the bars. "Brace yourself" Moriarty mocked them.

When the metal touched her skin it didn't really hurt at first. For a second she thought she would scream this time. She was very wrong. Sherlock only kept the metal against her skin for 5 short seconds but she could feel her skin being eaten away. It became terrible warm, and burned away her flesh. She flinched hard and tried to pull away, but Moriarty had been right, she could barely move. She bit her lip, keeping the scream inside. She was not going to scream, not this time, she was going to be strong.

Her body disagreed as she was pulling at the chains. The smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils when Sherlock pulled away the pool. Her burning flesh. She took in a shuddering breath and coughed up blood. She had bitten throw her lip. Glaring at Moriarty she spit on the ground. "Now let us go." She demanded. He laughed and walked away. "We'll you don't look presentable at all! Peter and I'll be here in a couple of second to make you presentable." "What?" she looked confused. Moriarty put his arm around her shoulder and guided Sherlock back to his cage, but not before making him let go of the burning metal.

"Look at yourself. Elizabeth! You look like you've gone through hell and back!" he giggled, before closing Sherlock cage and exiting the room.

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

* * *

Elizabeth was getting tired of his shit. Moriarty's little game, she wanted to go back home. She wanted to have a good night's sleep. She wanted a shit load of morphine so her pain would go away. But when did she get her way? She twisted in the chains to relieve her arms, this however this caused her to hiss as the burned skin stretched. The pain had dulled down a bit, but the smell of her burned flesh filled her nose. It smelled like burned chicken. A laugh ripped from her throat, she smelled like chicken. For some reason this was incredibly funny to her. The reason for that was probably a lack of good sleep and stress overload.

The teenager could feel the older man stare at her, probably a bit worried for her mental health. She threw her head backwards and laughed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I smell like fucking chicken!" Her laughing slowly turned into soft sobbing. "Oh god. I just need this to end." "Just hold on a little longer Elizabeth." "Yeah, yeah, it is nearly over. I know, I know." "I don't think he is going to hurt you anymore." "I hope you're right Sherlock. I don't think I can take much more of this."

As if on que, she suspected he had a microphone here somewhere, the doors were pushed open. Peter kept his head bowed as he entered. A black dress was draped over his arm and he held a black bag his hand. He held a bucket of water and a sponge in his other hand. A very excited Moriarty came prancing behind the quivering servant. The strange man had a laptop with him and a fold up chair. He was whistling happily as he started to set up the table. Peter pulled open Elizabeth's cag and left his stuff outside.

He smiled apologetic as Peter pulled a small knife. Immediately she pulled backward and snarled. "No, no, I am not going to hurt you, don't worry." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "I need to get your clothes off, but I am not allowed to take of the chains." He explained. He struggled to cut through the fabric at her sleeves. With a final tug the fabric gave away and it slipped down her side.

She wanted to cover herself since she wasn't wearing a bra, but the cuffs around her wrists restrained her. The teen buried her face into her shoulder. Peter looked away in shame as he grabbed the sponge form the bucket. Both John and Sherlock turned around, the detectives cheeks turned bright red. Moriarty however didn't show any shame. He looked her up and down and smiled, almost fondly. "Don't worry dear, you'll look absolutely dashing in a couple of minutes.

She let out a surprised cry when the cold sponge touched her back. With great care Peter washed the dried of blood from her back. The water trickled down her spine, slowly turning red as the blood started to come off. At first she tensed every time the sponge touched her back, but slowly she relaxed into his touch. Elizabeth was actually enjoying this, it relaxed her. She closed her eyes as he moved towards her front, he started with her neck and moved down. She squeezed her eyes shut when he washed her breast, it felt extremely wrong. Not in the same way that Moriarty had touched her, it felt much more intimate.

He quickly moved towards her belly, and cleaned the wounds Sherlock had left there. When all the blood was gone he grabbed a towel. He dried her upper body quickly; the once white fabric was bright red now. When she was dry he picked up a simple, strapless bra and put it one. She was relieved that she was at least covered up now, but when he got on his knees she got worried again. Would he take of her underpants as well?

Luckily the knife stayed down and he started to wash her legs. "You look a lot fresh then you did a couple of minutes ago." Moriarty chirped. He seemed to be done setting up whatever he was setting up. "I'll be back in a jiffy! Behave yourself!" She raised her eyebrows as the criminal left them. "What is going on Peter? What is he doing?" she asked as he started on her feet. "I honestly don't know, but he was awfully cheery so I'd brace yourself."

She looked at the table Moriarty had set up. He had placed a silver laptop next to it, it was plugged into a socket. What the hell was he up too? "Done." Peter exclaimed, he turned around and grabbed the black bag. "What's inside of there?" the doctor questioned. "Make-up and stuff." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Come again?" "Make-up. Moriarty said I had to and I quote make you look pretty." Honestly, she didn't know what to expect anymore, she didn't think Moriarty was really a very reasonable man so she could probably expect anything at this point.

So she held still as Peter started on put on mascara. Moriarty walked back through the big oaken doors carrying, black object. "Is that a camera?" "Yes my dear Sherlock that is in fact a camera." Peter moved down to grab something else out of the box, allowing her to see what he was doing. The crazy asshole seemed to be setting up the camera so it would be filming them. As the servant started to give her a dark eyeshadow Moriarty started to explain.

"I'll be leaving you guys soon but I would hate to miss out on all the action." He grunted as he placed the camera on top of the window sill. "So, I'll be sending a live stream directly onto my phone so I can follow. Hope you don't mind." She heard John grumble a couple of angry swears that probably formed a sentence, but Moriarty payed no heed. Plugging in the camera into the computer he kneeled down at the computer again.

Peter moved onto the lipstick and Elizabeth sighed but complied. Once he was done with that he grabbed a brush and attempted to get all of the dried blood and knots out of her tangled brown locks. She growled when he tugged too hard but kept quiet otherwise. Sherlock was leaning against the bars of his cage, attempting to look at the computer screen, but it seemed as Moriarty was blocking his view. Both men seemed to finish at the same time. When the criminal moved she immediately recognized the screen, he had set up a live screen on YouTube.

With a gleeful smile he walked towards the levers of her cage and let her down. "Could you not have done that earlier instead of making him wash my while being strung up as a doll?" "Why would I take away that simple little pleasure?" he grinned. She merely shook her limbs loose, immediately regretting that action as it send waves of pain through her fingers. "Don't go hurting yourself dearie! That's my job." He returned towards the camera and turned it on. He pressed a couple of buttons on the computer and started the live show.

"Ladies and gentleman I present you Sherlock Holmes, Doctor John Watson, Lady Elizabeth and of course me Mr James Moriarty. Today we will test the power of the police and the British government. Lady Elizabeth and her boys have been in my care for the last three days and the police have been looking for them. We shall see if they can find them before it is in fact too late."

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 **A/N:** Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading and if you would like to say something comments always make me happy! :)

Who found the reference and the literal quote?


	7. Chapter 7 - Time & Views

**A/N: I uploaded again! Yeah go me! Sherlock is still out of my control and not owned by me, but hopefully that will change soon. *cue evil laughter* Enjoy!**

I would like to thank everyone who left a review! Thank you guys so much, it means the world to me! Every review fills me with little bubbles of joy!

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

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With a smile Moriarty opened a tab on the computer, Elizabeth had a hard time figuring out what it was. Luckily for her she didn't have to guess as Moriarty had no trouble explaining it. "On this screen he said, you guys will be able to follow the progress of the police on the map." They are now in the station, probably still trying to find out where we are. Elizabeth could now see a little red bubble and a little blue one on the map. "We are the red bubble, the police is the blue one. On the left side you can see a timer that shows how long it will take to find us. Or them, I'll be gone in a little while."

Elizabeth saw the timer it said. 01:26:33. They were practically an hour and a half away, it didn't feel so long, she could probably survive this. However she did realise it wasn't going to be that easy. It wasn't going to be an easy hour and a half, but the criminal said he'd be gone in a little while, so how bad could it get?

Moriarty walked out of the door without another word, before she could do something John started to talk. "Listen, if someone is watching this please call for help! We are stuck here! He is holding and has hurt Elizabeth in so many different ways! Please send help!" Sherlock took over. "We're somewhere in Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Probably in the middle of the forest, in a huge mansion with a servant called Peter with a wife and two kids! Please get this information to the police!"

Before they could continue Moriarty returned to the room. He wasn't alone though, he was dragging Peter inside by his hair. The servant was tied up by his hands and feet and he wasn't even struggling. He was shoved onto his knees in front of Elizabeth's cage. Peter looked up at him, she looked back at him. He looked terrified, and ashamed. "This was the servant of the Leagon family. They're dead, so don't sweat it, they won't need it anymore." He left the man there as he started to release the chains of her cage.

"Why didn't you do this before? Getting dressed would have been way easier like this!" "That wouldn't have been nearly as funny to watch! You squirming, him trying not to look, and failing. He looked." She looked questionably at Peter, but he ignored her. "You're a beautiful girl, hard not too look. Bet if he had another night to sleep, he'd use you to get himself going." She could feel the bile rise up in her stomach. He opened the cage door and pulled Elizabeth out of the cage by her arm. "Ladies and gentlemen you guys get to see Elizabeth's last choices."

He manhandled her so that she could feel his stomach against her back. "Now Elizabeth, this gun is in fact loaded. And you'll be able to kill someone with it." He pressed a simple silver handgun in her right hand. "Either you kill Peter or I kill you, John, Peter, his wife and his two beautiful children." He moved his hand so the barrel of the gun was pressed against Peter's forehead. She noticed that he was crying, hysterically.

Moriarty moved his other hand over her body, slowly his fingers made their way over her side. His hand moved over her ass, towards her stomach, over her breast, pulling her closer against himself. "So what is it going to be? Are you prepared to kill a human to save yourself? Can you pull the trigger? Can you?" "Shut up!" she growled. "Shut up Moriarty! Shut up!" She stepped forwards, stepping away from his touch and body. Peter, do you us to tell your family something? Anything?

Peter was shivered slightly. "Please tell them I love them so, so much, that they are my world and I'd do anything for them. Please tell them I wish I could have done something. That I am sorry that they had to go through this! That I." Suddenly a gunshot echoed through the room, quickly followed by a soft thumb of a body hitting the ground. Peter stopped halfway through his sentence. He didn't look a scared, he looked so very sad, and empty. His mouth was still open, as if still trying to find the right words to say to his family. A thin line of blood trickled down the side of his face, coming from the bullet sized hole in his head.

"Well, well, well. I did not expect that from you Elizabeth." The young girl didn't react, she only stared at the dead man in front of her. She had killed him. When she had been looking at Peter, on his knees, bound, he had looked absolutely terrified. He was so helpless and broken, but she could see the plea in his eyes. "Save my family." She knew what she was going to choose the second Moriarty had told her her choice. She was going to shoot him, no question about it.

However Moriarty kept on talking on and on, but she didn't listen to what he said. She had been trying to figure out a way to kill him without hurting him to bad. Without too much pain, without too much suffering. She had thought, that maybe, maybe if he wasn't thinking about dying but about his family, then maybe he wouldn't be in that much pain. If she shoot him when he least expected it, he wouldn't be too scared. So that was exactly what she had done.

What Elizabeth didn't realise was that Moriarty was still talking. Praising her. He pulled her closer into his arms, nuzzling his nose against her neck. Kissing her, she could feel him growing hard against him. This was arousing him, the sick fuck. She attempted to pull away but he held her close. She pulled the trigger of the gun, trying to shoot his foot, but as expected, there weren't any more bullets.

"Wow there pet, don't get to angry. He wasn't all that important, all that special, and all that good. I was going to kill him first, when I came here. But I saw something in him, Sherlock saw it too, I know he did. He isn't a good guy. He's a killer. He hasn't killed yet, but he was killing." Elizabeth looked at Sherlock questioning, but he didn't look at her. "He was killing the people who lived here. These people didn't have a family, and when they died, their estate would go to his family. You know a kindness."

Sherlock was staring at Peter, he had known the second he had seen the man, that he had a horrible secret. And it hadn't taken one look at the rotting corpses in the hallway to know that they had already been dead people walking. It didn't take a genius to make the link. However this was not the way he should have gone. This man deserved to be punished, but now an innocent girl had killed someone. A child had lost her innocents in yet another way. His final act had not been protecting his family, but it had destroyed a young girl's life.

Moriarty hadn't stopped talking. "Have you ever heard of dimethyl mercury?" she found herself shaking her head. "No? Peter certainly had. He had also heard about professor Wetterhahn. A young lady who made a stupid mistake, she was a young chemist who worked with dimethyl mercury. She did everything she had to do but still a drop of the deadly poison found itself onto the back her gloves. You know what happens when you come into contact with dimethyl mercury?"

"No." "Nothing. Or at least nothing in the beginning. After 5 months she started to show symptoms of the mercury poison, another 5 months later she died." Elizabeth shivered, her eyes glued to the man that she had killed. "4 months ago he dropped a couple of dimethyl mercury onto their gloves. They would have been dead in 6 months. I merely sped up the progress." She stepped back in reflex of the horrible man that she had killed. Ending up closer to the criminal that was speaking.

"I told you he was a wicked man." He purred, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulled her into his body. "You understand why he had to die, don't you? Not only is he a horrible person, he allowed this to happen to you." Without thinking she nodded. He flipped her around, and kissed her on her mouth. It was soft and passionate, his hands wondering her body.

For a second she allowed it, she allowed him to touch her and hold her. She couldn't think, she couldn't progress what had happened. Moriarty pulled away with a wicked smile. "I win." He whispered in her ear. "Well I'll be leaving write about now. It was lovely to meet you Elizabeth, I hope we meet again. But I doubt it." With a quick jab he stabbed her in her neck with a needle. She felt a sharp stab in her neck. Grinning he shoved her away. Losing her balance, Elizabeth fell onto the ground, she brought her good hand to her neck. A tiny drop of blood had formed.

"Will you look at that?" Moriarty gestured to the screen. She noticed see two things. The first one was the timer. It had changed too 00:56:36, the police were on their way. They were less than an hour away. The second thing was the view count. 1.365.479 more than a million people were watching. More than a million people had seen her kill someone. "Your saviour might just be come just in time. If they hurry, and if you're strong."

"What did you give her, Moriarty? What was in that needle? Tell me!" Moriarty let out a loud laugh, "What does it matter? You can't do anything anyway!" With that he slammed the door closed and walked away. Elizabeth closed her eyes as he closed the door. She borrowed her head in her arms, what had she done?

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

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"Give me the syringe." Sherlock was staring at the needle that was lying on the ground. "Elizabeth, we need to know what he gave you." With a sigh Elizabeth got up and grabbed the needle. She grabbed the needle and walked towards the detective's cage. Moriarty hadn't thrown her cage and or tightened the chains, it allowed her to walk forward. She was nearly there when suddenly the chains pulled back. She couldn't reach the cages of her friends, neither could she reach the computer or the bed. She could walk, but not freely. Crying out in anger she tugged at her chains.

"Elizabeth, the syringe." Sherlock repeated. "Here have the bloody syringe, she threw it at him. The detective managed to catch and started to study it. Elizabeth sank to the ground. They would be here in less than an hour, she'd be alright. She mentally scolded herself for being so naïve, of course it wouldn't be that easy. She wasn't that stupid. Whatever Moriarty had put in her body wouldn't have been all that good.

She turned towards the camera and the computer. "If I don't survive this." She started. "Elizabeth! Don't talk like that!" John looked at her angrily. "You'll survive, you just have to hang in for another 50 minutes." "Stop it John! I don't care what you think! Whatever Moriarty gave me, I'm sure it wasn't anything good. Let me say my goodbyes just in case I don't get another chance!" She was so done with people telling her what to do.

"Mum, dad, I ask of you not to watch this. I am not sure what will come but I don't want you to see me like this. And I sure as hell don't want to you to see me die. I love you guys so much and I wish I got to tell you this in person. I wish I could hug you again and never let go." She had to swallow hard to be able to continue. "Whatever you do, do not blame yourselves. You had no way of knowing that this could happen. There was nothing you could do to save me. Nothing. Don't let Moriarty destroy your life the way he destroyed mine. Live on, do what you always wished you could do. Please don't stop living because I had to."

"Luuk, May. I want you guys to know that I love you a lot and that I don't blame you. You couldn't have done anything. He had a gun and would have hurt you guys. It isn't your fault either. I love you with all my heart and wish you the best. I know it might not be easy but I hope you guys can get over this and live a normal life."

"Jane, Lilly, Lucy, Nell, Mary, Charlotte, Jessica and Mark. I wish I could have said goodbye before this, but I am so happy that you were my friends. I could not have wished for better ones. I hope I was a good friend to you and that all of you live a long and happy life."

She sighed and curled into herself. She had a hard time saying goodbye. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Please whatever you do, don't watch this. I beg of you." Elizabeth shivered and started to sob. "Oh god, I don't want to die. Oh god please let me live. Please hurry." She didn't know to who she was speaking but she didn't care. All she wanted was someone to save her. Someone to protect her from whatever was coming. "Please I don't know how much more I can take. I don't know if I." suddenly her entire body spasmed and she let out a broken scream.

Sherlock looked up from the syringe only to see Elizabeth righting on the floor. She had no control over her body anymore, all of her muscles were contorting. Her broken hand was alive with pain as the broken bones were pulled and pushed. The wounds on her stomach and back were being torn open by her heavy movements.

"Sherlock what is going on?" John was panicking. "What did he give her?" "I'm not sure! Any number of drugs could do this to her! There is no saying in what he gave her!" Elizabeth let out another throaty scream as pain racked her body. "Make it stop!" her voice was full of panic, she had no idea what was going on.

They didn't know what to do, she couldn't reach them and they couldn't reach her. "Sherlock!" John pressed him. As a doctor he could see that what was going wasn't going to end well. Spasm like this could end up killing her. He turned his gaze to the other man, who was staring at the syringe. "Alright, alright. It is white, smelled like pure alcohol and small doses causes spasms." He rattled on, ruffling up his hair he closed his eyes. Not enough data, not enough data. It still could be so many different things. He pinched his nose and decided to do something stupid.

He touched the needle of the syringe with the tip, allowing the substance to come into contact with his finger. Nothing, it didn't burn or hurt. Sherlock swore and brought the tiny droplet to his mouth and licked his finger. "Sherlock what the hell!" John called out in horror as he saw his friend take in the poison. He immediately spit on the ground once he had tasted the liquid. Just like he smelled, there was alcohol in it, but there was also a very distinct bitter taste. Well that narrows it down.

"Sherlock!" "Shut up John!" He had to block out Elizabeth's screams and Johns panicked calls. He sat down and placed the syringe down in front of him, he had to go to his mind palace. Alright, what do we know?

\- Odourless

\- Probably only soluble in alcohol

\- Bitter

\- Causes muscle spasms (by the look of it mostly in the back)

\- Slightly white

The first thing that came up was Strychnine. It would probably kill her within a small hour. "It's strychnine!" Johns face was one of horror, he recognized that name. "Elizabeth started to calm down slightly, her body had stopped twitching and her breathing became more regular. "When you come here you need bring phenobarbital or diazepam to stop the seizures and a breathing unit. She'll need a blood transfusion as well."

The doctor turned to the young teenager who had curled up in a ball and was trying her best to steady her breathing. "What blood type do you have?" she didn't respond. "Elizabeth! What is your blood type? We need to know." "I, I, I'm not sure. I think, I think. I'm not sure." Her breathing was rigid and she looked confused and scared. "Breath Elizabeth, you are okay, you'll be okay. Breath. And think." Sherlock's voice broke through her hazed thoughts, calming her slightly. "I don't know. I remember asking but I don't know what it was. I think it was something negative."

"Do you remember anything else?" "Yes, my mum said I could donate to everyone but only receive from one." Elizabeth closed her eyes at that memory and allowed herself a little smile. Her mum had chuckled and told her she hadn't been surprised. Of course Elizabeth would be able to donate to everyone else, that was so typical for her."

"It's O negative. You need to get –O here as fast as possible." John spoke as if he had a nurse with him, who he was ordering around. "Okay Elizabeth, you are going to be okay. If you are strong, you will survive this. The police will be here in 30 minutes and when they are here they can treat you, and you'll survive." She swallowed hard, her mouth was dry, and she need water. "I'm thirsty." "It is a side effect of the poison. You might experience fear as well."

Elizabeth brought her broken hand to her chest, it hurt badly. The spasms had caused the broken bones to move over each other. "Will this happen again?" Sherlock nodded slightly, probably in a couple of minutes. "I don't want it to happen again." "I know." Elizabeth turned her head back to the computer, she could see the timer. 00:27:46. the viewer count was up to 3.598.014. "Hurry the fuck up." She spat at the screen. The words had only just left her lips when all of her muscles went rigid.

She managed to swear before the pain took over. She screamed out as her muscles moved on her own. Fear consumed her body, she had no control over her body anymore. She wanted to scream again, but her mouth didn't want to open. Her eyes spread open, she couldn't even open her mouth. A muffled scream came from behind her closed lips. "Try to calm down Elizabeth. Keep on breathing."

She managed to turn her face towards Sherlock. Her entire face was contorted in pain and horror. "What you are experiencing right now are back spasm, and lock jaw. Don't try to fight it, you can't control it." She wanted desperately to curse at him but she attempted to follow his instruction. More than 3 million were watching her wriggle on the ground. This probably meant that it would reach her school, her friends, her family and everyone she held dear. If she knew anything about the internet, she knew that this would spread like wildfire.

Another violent kick of her legs caused her head to hit the bars of her former cage, making her vision blur. It took a couple more seconds for her legs to calm down slightly. Everything felt so muffled and closed off. Her clothes were drenched with sweat. She rubbed her head only to feel herself burning up.

Apparently Sherlock noticed her reaction to her burning skin. "Do you have a fever?" she nodded. "You have hyperthermia. Your body is heating itself up." "What does it mean?" Sherlock didn't answer. "What does that mean?" "It means that the poison is moving rapidly." She groaned, her body was too hot, her body was bleeding and sweating. Suddenly she felt bile rising up again. This time she wasn't able to keep it in, and she puked. There was no food in her stomach, and barely any water so retching felt horrible. Her stomach was trying to push something out of her system but there was nothing to push out. Her throat burned with her stomach acid and she couldn't stop herself from shaking.

She whipped of the saliva from her mouth. 00:23:31, 4.168.002. They would be here in 20 minutes. She'd survive. She could do this. But what is he comes back? What if he's lying? What if he comes after her? She looked at the dead man next to her. The blood had dried up on his face and he had gone stiff. Carefully she moved towards him, dragging the chains with her.

His face was one of sadness and small tracks of tears were dried up on his cheek. She whipped closed his eyes carefully and moved his hair back into place. Her hands were shaking as she straightened his clothes.

"What are you doing?" "I killed him." "You didn't have a choice." "I shoot him." "Elizabeth." Her breathing was getting more erratic, her breathing wasn't controlled anymore. "Elizabeth breath." "I killed him without thinking twice. I shoot him through the eyes while a million people were watching." "Elizabeth." Sherlock tried to get her to calm down but she started to twitch again. She spasmed and fell to the floor. It was different this time.

It was a lot more violent this time, her body didn't just move slightly but she was thrashing violently. She was going to puck again, she knew she was, but she was scared that she would chock on it. She tried to keep it from rising, but nothing worked. When she puked, she couldn't spit it out. Her lips were sealed, her jaw locked. "Elizabeth! Try to keep calm." John called out. Her body wasn't getting enough blood, she couldn't get enough air into her system. She couldn't breathe.

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

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When the episode stopped and her muscle relaxed again, she allowed herself to curl inwards. "Hey, hey, you're okay. They are only 8 minutes away. You'll survive, you'll be okay. You are doing great." She didn't feel great. Her body was on fire with pain, her head didn't seem to be working, her lungs tried to get enough air inside but she couldn't do it. The teenager managed to get up, and staggered to the camera. "You are enjoying this?" she waved her hands around to the scene. "Are you enjoying the view? Is this amusing to you?"

"Elizabeth, calm down." "Calm down! Calm down! How am I supposed to calm down when 4 million people are watching me die!" she spat at the camera. "You are just as bad as Moriarty! You sick sons of bitches!" The teen lunged at the camera only to be pulled back by the chains. "Elizabeth! Stop! You'll hurt yourself!" the doctor was starting to get frantic. "Help me!" she managed just before her body started to react again.

She tried to move towards the cages of the men. She just wanted to be held and comforted, she wanted the pain to go away. She wanted everything to stop. The two adults watched in horror as the young girl crawled towards them. Her face was contorted with pain and agony, she seemed desperate for help. John fell to his knees, ignoring the pain of his shoot knee and tried to grab her.

He shoved his arm through the bar in an attempt to grab her hand, but she was too far away. He couldn't reach her. Both of them knew that this was probably her last attack. Her breathing was fast and shallow, she was scratching her neck attempting to get more air into her lungs. "Elizabeth stop." John sounded desperate as he watched her draw blood. Sherlock stood shell-shocked staring at the young girl laying on the ground. He too got onto his knees. He was slightly taller and managed to get a lot closer to her, but not close enough. His fingers were merely millimetres of her. He could feel the warmth of her fingertips against his own without touching her. She was crying and staring at him, she couldn't breathe. Her lungs made a rasping sound as she attempted to move closer.

The chains wouldn't allow her to come closer. No matter how hard she tried. 1:06. They would be here in a minute. "Hurry!" the doctor cried out. Sherlock shifted all his attention on Elizabeth. "Listen, they'll be here in a little while okay. You'll be alright. They'll save you, and you'll get to go home. You'll see your mum, your dad, your brother, your sister, your friends everyone again. You'll get to hold them, you'll see them again." The teen looked at him, there was still hope in her eyes, somewhere deep inside.

"Listen Elizabeth. Listen. Can you hear them?" The sound of the ambulance was a distant, but it was there. "Just a little longer." The girl reached out again, attempting to touch his hand, looking for comfort and he stretched his. Their fingertips touched, just barely but they did. Elizabeth let out a wheezing breath and closed her eyes. "No, no, no. Open your eyes! They're here! Open them!" Sherlock called out. He could hear the cars speeding up the driveway, coming to a sudden halt.

"Elizabeth, hold on." She was still breathing, and moving, but she kept her eyes closed. Sweat trickled down the side of her face and hit the carpet as the downstairs doors were thrown open. "Sherlock!" he recognized Lestrade voice. "Up here! Hurry!" John screamed back. They could hear the sound of footsteps as the men leapt up the stairs. They started to pull at the door. "It's locked!" Sherlock closed his eyes, they didn't have time for this. Elizabeth's breathing was slowing down, he could see her body shutting down in front of him.

Gunshots filled the room as the officers shot the doors. Elizabeth a shallow breath and her lips formed a word. He couldn't hear her, he didn't know what she was trying to say. "Elizabeth?" she stopped moving. They must have wasted at least 8 rounds before the bullets passed through the heavy oaken doors. They swung open with a bang and the room swarmed full of police and doctors. "Do something!" Sherlock begged as they surrounded the girl.

He moved back as the medics started to take her pulse. One of the women started CPR as they prepared the defibrillators. Both men were still sat on their knees and watched in horror as the teenagers entire body was shocked. And again, and again, and again. Sherlock was about to lose hope when someone yelled. "We've got a pulse!" the doctors sped to work. They intubated her, helping her to breath. Sherlock watched as they inserted a needle into her artery. Probably the phenobarbital or the diazepam, or possibly both.

"We need to get her to a hospital! Where are the keys!" Sherlock shook his head. "We don't know! They could be anywhere!" "We don't have a lot of time!" the detective looked for Lestrade, he needed someone to help him, but the detective was gone. "Lestrade!" no answer. "Lestrade!" "I'm here, move away." The inspector had an axe with him. "We knew he had you chained up and didn't know if you had keys somewhere." He growled as he brought the axe down onto the chains. They snapped easily and within a couple of seconds she was free.

Elizabeth was lifted onto a stretcher and chartered to the ambulance. Sherlock and John leaned back. Sherlock placed his head in his hands. She'd make it alive, she would survive this. She had too. He heard a little sob and turned his head towards John. The man had let out a small sob in relief and stress. He had seen many horrors during his time in the war, but this, this was something new.

"John, she'll be alright." He tried to console her. "They'll save her, they have to." John looked defeated when he looked at him. "We can't know that for sure. The poison has been in her system for more than an hour. And the things she has gone through, even if she survives. Her life, her life is over." "She is strong. She'll get through it. We'll help her though it."

Lestrade told them to stand back and brought the blade down on the cage. It took a little longer, but he managed to open both cages and free the men from the chains. John was lifted onto a stretcher as well and rolled away. Once the doctors were satisfied that Sherlock had only suffered from dehydration, starvation and trauma, they left him alone.

"Lestrade." Sherlock started. He didn't know what he was going to say. Now that the adrenalin was starting to wear of the fatigue started to set in. He was trembling slightly, his head was hanging down and his black curls fell in front of his eyes. Before he knew what happened Lestrade pulled him into a hug. The older man pulled him close into his body, one hand on his head and another around his shoulder.

For a second Sherlock stayed still, not knowing how to react to this sudden kindness. "It's over Sherlock. It is over." Finally he allowed himself to calm down. He relaxed in Lestrade grip and rested his head on his shoulder. "I hurt her, Lestrade. I hurt her badly." "You saved her Sherlock. Without you, she wouldn't still be alive." "If I hadn't been here. If I hadn't been here, she would have never been in the position that needed saving. If I hadn't been here, she wouldn't have been in that cage."

He realised that he was crying, not loud and desperate, but a deeper kind of crying. There was a deep sadness in the silent tears that ran from his cheeks. He had felt so damn powerless in these cages. Rage had consumed his body when Moriarty had forced such horrors on the young's girls' body. "I couldn't stop him." Lestrade pulled the younger man closer to him and started to rub Sherlock black curls. "I am so sorry Sherlock. I am so sorry that we didn't find you sooner."

He had known the detective for several years. He had met him when he was a young boy, only 21. He had been a drug addict and a suspect for a kidnapping and murder of a couple of young woman. Before Mycroft could intervene he had determent that not only was Sherlock innocent, he had an extra ordinary talent. He helped him clean up, essential saved him.

He remembered on occasion, when he got a phone call from the boy. He hadn't said anything, but he could hear him grunt in pain and other people yelling. It took him 15 minutes to find him. Sherlock had told his drug dealer he wouldn't be buying anymore and then told Lestrade about their den. The police hadn't been fast enough and the drug dealers had gotten away. When he arrived at the scene, Sherlock was completely shot up with drugs and beaten to a pulp. The detective had apologised to him for not being able to keep the men longer. Sherlock had looked so scared for a scolding and angry at himself for failing. He vowed to himself that he would make sur Sherlock would never feel the same way again.

And now, now Sherlock was going through the same thing, but worse. When Sherlock pulled away from him he kept his arm wrapped around him. He led the detective downstairs. When they walked through the door of the house Sherlock straightened up and took a step away from Lestrade. He didn't want to show weakness in front of the other police men. The inspector slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"The doctors agreed on letting me drive you to the hospital and not take you in an ambulance, but you need to go to a hospital." Sherlock nodded and obediently sat down in the police car next to him. During the drive Sherlock started to fall asleep. His head bobbed forward onto his chest, the dark curls messy and dirty hung stuck loosely onto his forehead. Little beads of sweat keeping them stuck there.

They were safe.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter cause I had to do a hell of a lot of research about strychnine and other poisons. I liked it though, it works. I asked my friends for a bit of advice for this chapter. What should happen to Elizabeth? Dehydration? Poison? Suicide? Nothing? Let me know if you think we made the right choice. (PS: they were really worried about me afterwards. My question spooked them slightly.)

Leave a review if you liked it or if you want to add something? I did plan on killing Peter before s4ep3 just so you know. Found it kind of funny that something similar happened in the series. THANKS FOR READING! LOVE YOU ALL!


	8. Chapter 8 - Safe at last

**A/N:** Sorry if this chapter looks less interesting.

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

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They wouldn't let him out of the hospital bed. They wouldn't let him see John, or Elizabeth. They wouldn't even give her an update on her. Lestrade kept on assuring him that she was in good hands and that she would be alright, but he just wasn't sure. He knew what Strychnine could do to a person, what it did to someone's body. It had been in her body for at least an hour, the poison destroyed your body. It caused organ failure, her kidneys were probably completely destroyed.

"Any news" Lestrade smiled, "Yes, actually John is out of surgery. It will take a lot of effort and rehabilitation, but his leg should heal just fine." The tension in Sherlock's shoulder relaxed slightly. "What about Elizabeth." They won't tell me a lot, she is still alive. But they are managing to get the poison out of her system." "Can I go see John?" "Sherlock…" "I'm fine. I am just a little dehydrated, but I'll be alright." "You need your rest Sherlock." "I need to SEE JOHN!" he slammed his fist on the bed. "I _need_ to make sure that he is alright."

Lestrade was about to tell him no again. "Please." The plea was a soft one, he just needed to make sure that John wasn't too emotionally damaged. "Fine, fine. I'll take you." Lestrade helped him out of the bed and helped him walk. Sherlock didn't want to admit it, but he was clearly still very tired. "Take your iv with you." The detective grumbled but did what he was told.

They walked through the hospitals halls, till they stopped in front of the door. "We are here." Sherlock's grip tightened on his arm for a second and they walked in.

John was a sleep. A soft beeping filled the room along with John's calm breathing. Sherlock stopped in the door way and looked at his friend. He looked so relaxed, like none of this had happened. Sherlock took a seat next to him and placed his hand on his arm. The doctor stirred slightly against his arm. He stayed there, his hand on Johns, till he finally fell asleep. Lestrade new better then to move him, but he couldn't stay in that chair. He was already pretty week, he didn't need a sore neck as well.

A hospital bed was brought to Sherlock room and they lifted him onto it. Sherlock woke, for only a second. "Thank you." He mumbled before falling back to sleep, his hand still on the doctors. When Mycroft came to see his brother later that day, he found all three men fast asleep. He chuckled when he saw Sherlock's hand intertwined with Johns and the detective draped over the stole snoring slightly.

He felt the warm liquid ran over his hands. Twitching muscles moved under his hand as a scream filled his ears. His hands moved on her own accord ripping another scream from the girl under his hands. He smiled softly when she tried to pull away it felt so well, it felt right, it felt.

With a shock Sherlock sat up right. Cold sweat ran down the small of his back, his eyes were wide and afraid, for a second he thought he was back in the cage. For a second he swore he could hear Moriarty laugh and Elizabeth scream, for a second. Sherlock looked around the room, what had woken him up. Lestrade was still fast asleep, a small drop of drool running from his lip.

He felt something move in his hand, he looked at it. John's had was twitching, he was waking up. He sat up happily, John was waking up. "John." He said softly. John's eyes opened slowly and he looked around sleepily and confused, he finally looked at his hand. Sherlock moved to let it go, but Johns grip tightened. "No, leave it for a second." His voice slurred, he was only half awake, and the medicine they had given him were still in his system.

John's eyes wandered around the room again, taking up every detail. They rested on Lestrade for a second, a small smile formed on his face, then they moved to Sherlock. "We are alive." He stated. "Yes." "You are alright." "Yes." "I am alright." "Yes." "Elizabeth?" Sherlock was just about to talk to explain when Mycroft entered the room. "Hello brother." Though it sounded cold to the most, John and Mycroft could hear that Sherlock was very pleased to see him.

"Sherlock. John." John nodded and smiled as a greeting. "I am happy to see that you are both awake, and well." He walked to their bed and leaned on Sherlock's. "I have good news." "Continue." "Elizabeth is okay. They moved her out of the surgery for now, she is on a lot of machinery right now, she'll need an organ and skin transplant, but other than that. She will be physically fine." Both men leaned back and sighed. "Thank god." "Can we see her?" Mycroft shook his head. "No, I am sorry, she is asleep and needs her rest. When she is strong enough, they'll give her a new kidney, and afterwards they'll fix her hand as good as they can." John nodded, but she is alive." "She is very much alive."

"Thank you Mycroft." "For what?" "For finding us in time." Mycroft nodded and walked away, they clearly needed to talk. Once Mycroft left the room, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence. A nurse came in to check their vitals and Johns leg wound, it looked like it would heal pretty good. "Are you okay John?" "Yeah." "John?" with a sigh he answered "No, I guess I'm not. I'll be, but I'm going to be okay. It will take a while, but in the end, I'll get through it." He squeezed his hand without realising. John returned it. "How about you Sherlock?"

"I'm going to be okay. We'll get through it. It is Elizabeth I'm more worried about." John brought his hands towards his face, pulling his hand out of Sherlock's. "Do you think she'll recover?" "I'm not sure, but she is strong. If anyone survives this, she'll survive it. It will take long, and she will never be the same again, but she'll get through it."

"Will she ever forgive us?" Sherlock hesitated before he answered. "I don't think she'll blame us. I think she might flinch when we try to touch her, she'll have a lot of nightmares, she won't trust anyone for a long time, but she won't blame us." John nodded. "She might not realise what she is doing until she does it."

"If she wants it, we need to help her. But if she doesn't want to see us again, we need to respect her wishes." "I know, I know." Sherlock shifted uncomfortably in his hospital, and got up. "Where are you going?" "I'm going to find my clothes, I am perfectly fine." John knew better then to stop him and settled back down.

Suddenly he heard a startled sound from the chair next to him. Lestrade woke up and grabbed his neck. "Jesus Christ, why did I sleep in this bloody chair?" He groaned and looked up at John. "Ah you are awake!" The doctor smiled brightly at the agent. "Where is Sherlock?" "He is off to bother some nurses about leaving the hospital." Lestrade rolled his eyes knowingly and got up. "Anymore news about Elizabeth?" He told him what he had been told.

"Poor girl. I can't imagine what she went through." "No you really can't." Lestrade looked down, John reckoned he felt guilty for not finding them earlier, but before he could apologize for his outburst Sherlock walked into the room. He was wearing his normal clothes again, jacket and all, he wasn't however, alone. A woman and a man followed quickly behind him. John failed to notice Lestrade getting up quickly and Sherlock solon face when he spoke. "You could have warned me that you were bring guest Sherlock." He joked.

"These aren't exactly guests John, these are Elizabeth's parents." Johns face fell immediately, he tried to sit up but his leg had been suspended, making it rather difficult. "Mr and Ms…" the doctor trailed of, come to think of it he had no idea what the young girl's last name was. "Van Parijs." They filled in silently. "I just want to apologise, I am so sorry for what happened to your daughter. I wish I had." "Please don't apologise, not yet, not until we know what our little girl has gone through." "That is why we are here. We want to know what our daughter has gone through, so when she wakes up we can help her every way we can."

"Of course, no problem. Anything we can do to help you." Sherlock gestured to the hospital table and sat down next to John on the bed. The parents sat down at the chair, and nodded. "I will give you some privacy." Lestrade got up and started to walk away but the mother grabbed his arm. "Please stay. We would like the police to fill in some gaps where possible." "Of course."

"What would you like to know?" Sherlock didn't seem certain where to start. "Everything." The detective glanced at John, and with a big sigh they started. They told the parents about finding Elizabeth in the mansion, they told them what Moriarty had done prior to their arrival. When Sherlock came to the first choice the father clenched his fist in anger and the woman swore loudly. "Maybe we should stop for today." "No, we need to know." "Isabelle." "What Greg?" "Are you sure we should here this?" "Don't you want to know what happened to Elizabeth?"

"It only gets worse from here." They grabbed onto each other's hands and nodded. "Sherlock continued the narrative when he got to the rape the woman slammed a fist in the table. For a second John felt very lucky that it had been Moriarty who had raped the girl, the parents would have beaten them to a pulp. He was surprised that they hadn't done anything rash yet, but when Sherlock got to the poison they broke down. Tears ran down their cheeks and she buried her face in her husband's neck.

"Oh god!" Sherlock looked at the ground between his feet, he felt incredibly guilty about the teenager. "I am sorry I couldn't protect your daughter." The mother looked up at Sherlock, for a second he thought she would slap him. Instead she grabbed him and pulled him and John into a hug. "Thank you so much for keeping her alive." None of them knew what was going on but they allowed it. The woman was shaking and trembling in his arm, when he looked over to the man he saw him with his face in his hands.

Eventually the woman moved away from them. "If my, if our daughter. If she. Will you help her?" "Of course madam, we'll do everything we can to help her recover." "You think she'll be able to recover." "Yes, she is an incredibly strong girl, she'll be alright, it might take a while but everything will turn out okay."

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

* * *

A knock filled the room and a boy entered the room, a little girl was standing behind him. It was clearly Elizabeth's younger brother, she looked exactly liked her. "Oh, I'm sorry." "It is alright, Luuk. What is it?" "The doctor said he wanted to talk to you guys about Elizabeth." The young boy looked impossibly tired and worn out, he had clearly had hard time.

Her parents excused themselves and left the room, it took Sherlock all of his willpower not to follow them. It was their daughter, they had the right to know first, he had no such right. "Do you think she is awake?" "No Greg, she still had to have a kidney transplant and her hand needs to be fixed. They might already have done the transplant and are filling in the parents."

They watched the parents react through the screen, they were quiet as they listened to the doctor but they started to laugh softly and pulled their other children into a thigh hug. John and Sherlock let out a relieved breath. "Thank god." The two men nodded. "Jesus, I had no idea she went through all of that. I mean I knew it wouldn't have been good, but I had no idea." John placed a hand on the detectives shoulder. "I wish I could have saved you sooner." "You couldn't have, Moriarty wouldn't let you."

"I know but." "You couldn't have done anything Lestrade." The father opened the door. "If you want, you can join us. She is asleep, but we can go see her." "Thank you, we will be there shortly." Sherlock was eager to go but John grabbed his sleeve. "Maybe we should give them some time with their daughter." "But they said." "I know what they said." The detective sat back down with a sigh. "Al right, but let me at least get you a wheelchair."

"Sure." He waved the taller man away, he clearly needed something to do. Lestrade was staring at him, if he was Sherlock he would probably know why. "Lestrade." "Yes." "Why are you staring?" "I am doing no such thing." "Greg." He raised an eyebrow at the detective. "I am just. I am just very worried about you. The things he made you do aren't. They were rather. They aren't easy to do."

"No shit Greg. But it happened, I'll get over it. He made me do it, I'll learn to cope." "If you need to talk about it, you are always welcome to talk with me." "Greg I'll be fine." "I know John." "I've seen worse things in the war." "This isn't the same thing John." "I know Greg."

Lestrade wanted to continue the conversation when Sherlock barged in again. "Ready?" the men nodded and John attempted to get up himself, but his leg was bandaged up, so they had to help him up." In a matter of seconds they were on the roll towards Elizabeth room. Lestrade stopped at the door. "I'll leave you guys to it." Sherlock nodded and pushed the door opened. The first thing he noticed about Elizabeth was how incredibly pale she was. The only thing assuring him that she was alive was the soft rising and falling of her chest and the beeping of the machines.

"Elizabeth." He whispered softly. The girl's family turned towards them, the brother stepped forward. He was slightly smaller than Sherlock but clearly a whole lot younger, he stood between the two men and his sister.

He could read the protectiveness and the anger radiating through the young boys form. He saw the punch coming from a mile away but he didn't move. It send him flying backwards with a loud thud. "Sherlock!" "Luuk!" John tried to move towards the fallen detective as the boy leaped on top of him. "You did this to her!" another punch slammed into his face. "You should have saved her! You should have protected her!" every sentence was followed with another punch.

The parents grabbed the teen and dragged him from the detective. "Luuk stop!" They managed to pull him off held him tightly as he tried to make his way towards Sherlock again. "They did this! They did this! Zij hebben het gedaan. (They did it.)" He switched to his native language and hid his face into his mother's shoulder. "Shhhhhh, het is oke het is oke. (Sh, it is okay, it is okay.)"

Sherlock got up carefully and whipped some blood from his lip. "I am so sorry, I didn't know he would do that." "It isn't a problem, I understand." The boy was shaking in his mother's arms, but the rage was starting to leave his form, it made room for sadness. "I am so sorry about your sister. I wish I could have helped her more." "Why her? Why Elizabeth?" asked the kid. "Because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

A soft groan came from the bed and everyone's attention shifted. Elizabeth moved slightly in the hospital sheets, no one dared to breathe. Elizabeth groaned again, this time opening one eye, but closing it immediately with a hiss. She brought her broken hand to her face and froze. A sharp pain shot through her arm when she moved it. Her eyes flew open and she scanned the room, but her eyes weren't focus.

Her heart was racing and her breathing turned erratic, the lights were too bright and she couldn't concentrate on anything. Her gaze fell on Sherlock, she noticed the blood on his lip and nose, her entire body tightened. She wasn't aware of the people around her, or that she was still in the hospital, she thought she was still in the cage. "Oh Lizzy!" the mum cried out and grabbed her eldest daughter, pulling her into a hug.

Elizabeth's eyes went huge and she didn't react to her mother's touch. She was still keeping eye contact with Sherlock but it was as if she couldn't really see him. "Elizabeth. We waren zo ongerust! Ik ben zo blij dat je veilig bent. (Elizabeth. We were so concerned. I am so happy that you are safe now.)"

"Madam, I don't mean to be rude but please let go of Elizabeth." The mothers grip only tightened. "What? Why?" "She is having a panic attack. She doesn't realise that she is safe. I believe she still thinks that she is in Moriarty's cage." The mother seemed to get angry. "How dare you!" she stopped halfway through the sentence however when Elizabeth let out a tiny whimper at the raised voices.

The woman leapt back for the hospital back and put a hand over her mouth. A couple of small tears ran down the girls cheeks. "Elizabeth?" the father reached to whip away the tear, but the teen just flinched away. "Don't" Sherlock stopped him and moved towards the side of the bed, almost as a reflex she grabbed his hand. A thread to reality. "Listen to me. You are okay. Look at me Elizabeth." She turned back to him. "He is gone. Moriarty is gone, you are in a hospital. Look around. Look at the people around you."

Elizabeth did as she was told but her eyes weren't seeing anything. "Again. Look at the people. They are your family. Your mum, your dad, your brother, your sister. Everyone is here." But they couldn't get her to snap out of it. The nurse who had been monitoring from back of the room decided to step in, she started to move forward but John stopped her. "He is nearly there. Give him a second. Please." He whispered. The nurse hesitated but nodded.

Sherlock gestured Elizabeth's little sister to move forward, she would look the least like Moriarty. The little girl walked up to the bed. "Liz?" She looked at her, confused, she couldn't place her. "Liz, it is me Liz. It is May." Elizabeth blinked a couple of times before her face changed completely. "May." The fear and confusion disappeared and absolutely joy and relief took their place. "May!" She let go of Sherlock's hand and wrapped her arms around the little girl.

"Oh god May! Mama? Papa? Luuk?" Elizabeth cried out and the rest of the family rushed forward. Sherlock moved backwards to give them some space as Elizabeth was enveloped in hugs.

John and Sherlock smiled at the scene, Elizabeth held her family tightly. They suddenly noticed Lestrade gesturing at them through the window. "Come Sherlock." John tugged at his Sherlock's coat, and they moved out of the room.

"What is wrong?" "Nothing John, I'm going home and I'm going to give you a ride if you want." "We can't leave. Elizabeth just woke up, we can't leave her alone now." Sherlock protested. "First of all she isn't even alone, she has her entire family with her. Secondly she is already back asleep." Sherlock looked behind her only to see Elizabeth back asleep, this time with a peaceful smile on her face. The door of the hospital room opened, and Luuk walked out.

Sherlock stood up straight and stepped in front of John. The boy looked tired and slightly embarrassed. "I am sorry for hitting you early." He said softly. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you." "Don't worry about it. I understand." "No. I saw you with Liz earlier, the way she held onto you. I saw the way she clung onto you, the way she trusted you." He swallowed hard. "I know that if you hadn't been here it would have probably been a lot worse for her, so thank you for helping her."

Sherlock nodded, and the boy went back inside. "Let's go home Sherlock." The detective nodded and they started to walk, or in Johns case roll, out of the hospital. Lestrade lead them towards his car and they helped John into the backseat.

"Mrs Hudson was incredibly anxious when you disappeared. She wanted to go visit you in the hospital, but I told her it wasn't a good idea. We weren't sure in what state you guys were." Sherlock smiled slightly at the thought of Mrs Hudson. "Better give her a call that we are coming, I would kill for some tea right about now." John grinned while rubbing his leg.

They drove in silence, they weren't all too far from Baker street so they arrived within moments. However when they arrived at their street, they couldn't continue on further. The streets were blocked by people standing in the street. "Journalists." Snarled Greg. He rolled down a window "Get out of the way, we need to get through!" this only made it worse.

"Idiot." Groaned Sherlock. The people swarmed the car, they were taking pictures and yelling out questions. "We'll never get John out of the car this way. We need to get to the boot for the roll chair." Lestrade honked the car but no one moved. "What should we do?" "We will have to push ourselves through the crowd." With a sigh Sherlock and Lestrade pushed open their car doors, within seconds they were surrounded by cameras, microphones and notebooks.

"Let us through." Growled Sherlock, he was fighting the urge to hit them in the face. "Move!" a couple of people took a surprised step backwards at Lestrade outburst, and they managed to get to the back of the car. They took out the wheelchair and opened it. "Why do you need a wheelchair? What happened? Who did this?" Sherlock let out a snarl.

They managed to get the chair next to the passenger's seat and pulled open the door. When they helped John sit in the chair the journalists went berserkers. "How did this happen? What happened? Will you recover? Who did this?" They tried to pick John up but the people were pushing and pulling, and it wasn't working. "Move!"

They managed to get john in the wheelchair and tried to push him through the crowd. However when one of the journalist grabbed Johns injured leg to stop them Sherlock lost it. John let out a pained yell at the touch and Sherlock threw a punch.

His fist collided with the man and he flew backwards with a crunch. "Don't touch him!" Lestrade grabbed his arm, making sure he didn't hit someone else. "Stay calm Sherlock!" "They hurt John!" "They didn't mean to!" "But they did!" the reporters had backed down a little, clearly frightened of the man. The one he did hit, got up again. "What the hell dude!" his nose was bleeding. "What you do that for?"

"You hurt John." Sherlock was growling now. The reporter threw back his head and laughed. "I am sure the doctor can handle a pat on his leg!" he said and tapped the doctor's leg again, making him winch. Before Sherlock could even react, Lestrade smacked him in the face. "Fuck off!" he growled. The reporter crawled back. "What the fuck dude?" people were snapping pictures and filming everything. "Leave the doctor alone! He was shot for fucks sake! Why would you touch him?" when the reported didn't answer he nodded angrily. "Now move so we can go home!"

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

* * *

The crowd parted and they managed to get through and to the apartment. When they opened the door Mrs Hudson was on them in a second. She grabbed Sherlock first, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank god you are okay!" she held him closely. "Oh Sherlock I was so worried." Sherlock returned the hug, rubbing her softly. "It's alright now Mrs Hudson. No need to sniffle." When she let go of Sherlock she moved to John. "John what happened to your leg?" she held him tightly, careful not to touch his leg.

Once they comforted her she went off to get them some tea. John looked up at the stairs. "What now." "I suppose you'll get the downstairs bedroom. Don't worry about it I'll get your stuff downstairs." "Thanks Sherlock." The detective nodded. "Don't worry about it."

"I'll leave you two too it then." Lestrade opened the door to leave. Most of the reporters were still there but when he glared at them they moved out of the way. None of them wanted to get hit. The rest of the day went calmly. Sherlock helped him move in and Mrs Hudson took great care of them. The next morning there were several pictures in the paper of them in the car. Every news article had a different story to tell, the internet was blown up.

The video footage of Sherlock and Lestrade beating the report was the most viewed on YouTube. The opinions were different in every, some said that he had it coming, other once agreed with the two men. But it didn't really matter, Sherlock and John stayed asleep until at least midday. When Sherlock woke up he woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes. Curiously he put on his bathrobe and walked out into the living room. Mrs Hudson had cooked up an entire breakfast for them.

"Morning." He mumbled. "More like midday, you've been asleep for at least 20 hours, dear. I've had to warm up your breakfast several times now." he smiled kindly at her and sat down. "Thank you." "No worries dear. Would you like something to drink?" "Yes, just a cup of tea if you can."

"Just for this once, I'm not your housekeeper." "And a couple of biscuits please." He started to eat the bacon with a wide grin. He hadn't realised how hungry he had been until now. Mrs Hudson was an amazing cook. Mrs Hudson came up with a little tray. "How is John?" "He is still asleep. You two were both so tired."

The landlady smiled at Sherlock, the man was eating as if he hadn't eaten in days. Well she supposed he hadn't eaten all that much in the last couple of days. She sat down across of him. "Are you okay Mrs Hudson?" Her face was worried, she was clearly not okay. She looked as if she hadn't slept in several days.

"Yes, sweetheart. I am okay now." but her face was still terrified. "I was just so very worried about you boys. Disappearing like that, the police came knocking on my door. And then that poor girl. I was just so scared that I would never be able to see you again." "Ah, Mrs Hudson, you can't get rid of us that easy." "Don't joke about stuff like that, Sherlock. I couldn't sleep!"

Sherlock got up and wrapped his arms around her trembling body. "It is okay Mrs Hudson. We are back again." Mrs Hudson was crying at this point. "I was so worried. I was so scared. Never do that to me again. Promise me Sherlock. Promise me." She looked so very small right now, so very scared. "I promise you Mrs Hudson, you'll be okay. We'll all be okay."

They stayed like that for a little longer. Mrs Hudson in Sherlock arms, he stood awkwardly, bending over holding on to her. When she finally let go of him she whipped away her tears. "Look at me, making such a fool of myself." she sniffled a couple more times before walking away. "I am going to check on John."

He sat back down and finished his breakfast. He had expected Mrs Hudson getting a bit sentimental but he hadn't expected it to get this bad. He hadn't even stopped to think about her, she had probably been very tired and scared.

Not much he could do about that now was there. He needed a shower, he hadn't had a proper wash in the last couple of days. He needed the warm water and the good soap. He went into the shower and started to wash himself. The warm water was amazing, he groaned at the warm stream hitting her back. His muscles relaxed and he leaned his head against the cold tiles.

He scrubbed himself clean as quickly as he could, he had been feeling so rotten the last couple days. He allowed himself to think about other things for now, he allowed himself to forget about Elizabeth and what had happened to her. He started to hum a melody in the shower, he wasn't sure what it was perhaps Bach? He wasn't sure how long he had been under the water, he lost track of time. When he finally got out of the shower everything was misty and steamed over.

He dried of and started to get dressed, he had grabbed clean clothes. It felt good to wear something fresh, it made a big difference. He left the bathroom and headed towards the living room. Sherlock made his way towards his violin and picked it up carefully, he plucked a couple of snares. They were out of tune, so he started to tune it.

Once it was ready he picked up the bow, he allowed his fingers danced over the snares. He closed his eyes as the notes started to come out of the violin. He smiled as the familiar tunes filled the room, and plopped down into his chair. He started with something simple he had played a million times before, but slowly it changed it became something new.

He stopped thinking about what he was doing and allowed the music to come to by itself. He didn't notice the footsteps as someone came up the stairs. He didn't hear the creaking of the hinges of the door as it opened. He didn't notice someone crossing the room and taking a seat across of him.

Sherlock must have played for an hour at least when he finally stopped. He put the violin down and heard someone let out a soft breath, his eyes shoot open and he looked at the man across of him. "How did you get up here John?" The doctor was sitting in his old chair, his eyes were still closed and he looked so relaxed. "I walked up." He gestured at a walking stick next to the chair.

Sherlock nodded, "How long have you been there?" "At least three quarters. Did you compose it yourself?" "Yes, I did. Was it any good?" "It was great. It was very, very sad though. It sounded broken." "Ah…" "Don't stop playing." The man was surprised at the request. John had never really minded his playing but he had never wanted him to continue him playing. "Alright."

He brought the violin back into position and started up again. They stayed like that till his fingers felt raw of playing. Sherlock was pretty sure that Mrs Hudson had appeared at a certain point and stayed for a while, but she hadn't interrupted them. Sherlock finally stopped playing when the phone went off.

He grabbed the phone from the table. "Hello, this is Sherlock Holmes." "Mr Holmes this is Elizabeth's mother." John noticed him stiffen. "I am calling because Elizabeth woke up and she asked for you. We were wondering if you would be willing to come over." "Of course madam, we'll be there as soon as possible."

"Who was it?" "Elizabeth's mother, she just woke up and is asking for us." "How does she have our number?" "I gave it to her in case she needed us." "Let's get going then." Sherlock went over to John and grabbed his waist, helping him up. "What are you doing?" "Your foot is injured, this is the most efficient way of getting you downstairs without carrying you. I assume you would rather not have me carry you." With his free hand he grabbed John's walking stick and helped him down the stairs.

"Where are you two going of too?" "To the hospital. Elizabeth woke up." She looked at their position. The detective was hunched downwards so he could hold Johns waist, his arm wrapped the doctor's waist. The doctor leaning with all his wait on him. She raised her eyebrows suggestively, but Sherlock just scoffed.

He hauled a cab and they drove off to the hospital. "Let me walk on my own in the hospital would you." "Sure. Any particular reason?" "Just let me walk by myself." Was he embarrassed that he needed help? Surly not? He didn't have a lot of time to think about it before they arrived. He let John struggle out of the car by himself and went off to the staircase. He had to stop several times so the doctor could catch up.

They arrived at the Elizabeth's room and knocked on the door. The mother opened the door, she looked tired but relieved. "Thanks for coming." She glanced at John. "No more wheelchair?" "No, it wasn't necessary, I prefer walking sticks." "Mama zijn ze daar? (Mum are they there?)" They heard Elizabeth's voice come from the room. "Ja schat ze zijn hier. (Yes, honey they are here.)" The mother gestured with her head telling them to go in. Sherlock hesitated but John nudged him softly in the back and he moved forward. Elizabeth was lying in bed, she looked impossibly pale and small lying in the white sheets. Her hand was completely wrapped up and there were several tubs coming out of her arms and she had huge bags under her eyes.

"Elizabeth? I am happy that you're awake." The girl smiled at them. "Thanks to you two." Her voice was rough from screaming and incubation. John limped to her side and grabbed her good hand softly. "We are so sorry Elizabeth." the girl frowned slightly. "What for?" "For putting you in this situation." "You didn't do this. Moriarty did." "Still." "No I don't want to hear it John, it isn't your fault."

John nodded. Sherlock kept her distance, he didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to hold the girl, another part of him wanted to run so that he couldn't hurt her. "Mum, could you leave us alone for a second?" The mother seemed incredibly reluctant to leave her daughter, but she looked at the way John was holding her hand she left the room.

They stayed still for a second as Elizabeth started to sit up. "What did you tell my parents about what happened?" "Everything." "Everything. "We left out a couple of details." "Why!" her mood had flipped, she pulled her hand from Johns and sounded pissed. "They asked us too. They wanted to know what to expect so they could try and help you."

She groaned in frustration. "All you did was worry them! I heard my parents cry outside! They feel guilty now!" "We just wanted to help." "Yeah well! That didn't help!" She was shaking slightly, Sherlock stepped forward quickly, scared that she might have another panic attack. "Elizabeth please we just wanted to help."

She brought her hand to her face and took a couple of deep breaths, slowly calming herself down. "I know, I know, I know. It just didn't simplify things." "We are sorry." "It is alright."

She looked back up at Sherlock and noticed something on his lip. "What happened?" "What do you mean?" "Your lip." "Your brother hit me…" "What! Why?" "He was angry about what happened to you. He needed to blame someone." "Jesus Christ Sherlock. I'm sorry." "No worries." She reached for his lip and touched it softly. The detective took a step backwards when she touched his face.

Elizabeth looked slitghtly ashemed so John changed the subject. "So how are you?" "The doctors said I am going to recover, apperently they gave me an organ transplant for the kidneys. They fixed my hand, they said that I was very luckly. If my fingers hadn't been broken this way they might not have been able to reset them this well. I'll need to do some rehabilitation therapy but it should work out."

"What about the wounds?" Sherlock knew the answer but he was wishing that he was wrong. "Those are going to scare. Some of the once on my back will heal completly but those on my stomach and the burn are going to scare."

"What about you? Are you going to be okay." "I honestly don't know. My parents already called a psychiatrist in Belgium. But the hospital wants to keep me in observation for a little longer." "So you'll be heading back to Belgium then?" for some reason John hadn't been expecting that, he knew that she lived in Belgium but he hadn't tought about her going back home.

"Well yeah, of course I'm going to go home. I'm not going to be staying in England."

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading this chapter! If you liked this chapter please leave a comment! Thank you too everyone who left a comment it really means a lot!


	9. Chapter 9 - Home again

**Chapter 27**

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Sherlock stomach sunk to the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure if it would be a good idea that Elizabeth went home. He had seen her parents and he wasn't entirely sure if she would be alright with them. They were kind and good parents, but they might not be equipped to handle this.

The mum was a fierce woman that would do anything to help her family, but she was extremely emotional. From what he had seen and from what Elizabeth had told her she knew that she would flip out if something went wrong.

She would get upset and only amplify the girl's emotions. She wouldn't know what to say and what to do, she'd probably only make it worse. The father was the complete opposite, he was cold and collected.

He might be able to help her calm down but he wouldn't be able to help her solve her problem. She might be okay for a little while, but in the end he would only get it deeper in her head.

And then Sherlock hadn't even gotten started on the fact that Moriarty was still around. He might have promised that he would leave Elizabeth alone, but honestly he didn't trust him. But he couldn't possibly tell her that.

Not now, not now that there was hope in her eyes. Not now that there was a small smile playing on her lips from time to time. Not now that felt safe. He would have to trust the Belgium police system and the sense of her family.

He wasn't sure what to do or what to say when suddenly the door swung open. The nurse came in with a little chart in her hands. "Sorry but I believe that it is time for you to say goodbye. Elizabeth had a long day and she needs her rest."

John grabbed Sherlock's arm, just in case he would protest like he did last time, but instead he just helped him walk away. "See you soon Elizabeth." John limped out of the room and they got into a cab. "You don't think she should go back home." "No." "Why? Because I cannot protect her when she is in Belgium."

"You don't have to protect her anymore." "Yes I do." They drove the rest of the way home in silence. Sherlock didn't say another word as he went upstairs. Mrs Hudson wanted to make sure he was alright, but John warned her against it. The detective had picked up the bow again and the music that came from the strings were violent and frustrated. He knew better then to bother Sherlock when he was like that.

After a particular hard case, a young boy died, a young boy he had been so sure that he could have saved. Sherlock had gone up to his room and the sounds that came from his instrument were absolutely horrible. The soldier had gone into his room, mostly wanting to tell him to stop making such a horrible sound; he had expected to find him frustrated and annoyed, instead he found him with tears in his eyes and red cheeks.

He tried to console him but Sherlock had screamed at him to get out, saying that he was fine and that he needed to leave him alone. If there was anything John knew about his campaign then it was to listen to his music.

However he was wrong. Sherlock wasn't someone who was good with emotions let alone communicate them. He knew almost anything but that. The only real outlet for his emotions was his violin, it was much more than an instrument for him, and it was his way of letting people he cared for know what he felt. And right now he felt defeated. He felt like a failure and he didn't know what to do about it.

Some part of him wished that John would just enter the room at any given point to help him, but he knew the doctor wouldn't. The doctor got closer than anyone when it came down to his feelings, but not close enough. It was 1 o clock when he finally put away his bow. John had never complained about his playing, but even he had his limits.

He wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon but he would at least let his friends sleep. He laid down onto the soft sheets and stared at the ceiling. The ceiling was boring, plane and white, he started to think. Sherlock started to think about everything that had happened. Maybe if he had gone after Moriarty before he snatched Elizabeth.

I mean, he had tried, he had talked and looked, but he hadn't really put all that much effort into it. He could have done a lot more but instead he focused his attention on other things. The woman, the hound, those damn redheads, if he hadn't spent that much time on those idiotic cases he might have been able to find Moriarty.

But to be fair he hadn't wanted to find Moriarty. He hadn't wanted to find him. The reason for that was. Moriarty was interesting, Moriarty was intriguing, and Moriarty brought out the best in him. Moriarty was fun. He hated that single little thought that made its way into her head, but it was right. The games he played with Moriarty, the cases he gave him were fun to solve.

They kept him on the tip of his toes, they stayed interesting. So he hadn't used every inch of his energy to find him, he hadn't really tried. So even if Elizabeth said it wasn't his fault, it really was. Sherlock ran his fingers through his dark hair and grabbed it, he sat up and brought his face between his knees. It was all his fault.

He was the reason that Elizabeth was in the hospital with a broken body and a broken mind. He was the reason that John had to use a walking stick. He was the reason that Peter laid dead in a grave. Everything was his fault. All of this, and he couldn't even bring himself to cry about it.

A loud cry pulled him from his thoughts and made him jump up. John. He ran down the stairs towards the others man's temporary room. "John!" he ran through the door, terrified of finding him hurt. But when he shoved open the door he saw John alone in his bed, unharmed.

His knuckles were white from gripping the sheets, he was drenched in sweat his blond hair sticking onto his forehead. A small trail of blood dripped from his lip where he had bitten through the flesh. Sherlock recognized what was going on, when John just moved in with him he similar nights. He had PTSD.

"John." He touched the soldiers shoulder gently. "John, you are alright. You are safe. Wake up." The doctor moved with incredible speed, sitting up and slamming his fist in Sherlock direction. The detective barley managed to move away in time. John looked around startled, not sure where he was or what was going on.

"John. It is me, Sherlock. You are back at the flat." His eyes focused and his breathing calmed down slightly. "Oh god Sherlock, I am so sorry." Sherlock shook his head. "Don't worry about it." John rubbed his eyes tiredly and dropped back down onto the bed. Sherlock knew the drill, before when John had these nightmares he would stay and talk to him about it.

Sherlock had read online that talking about the dreams could be therapeutic. So just like he had done before he did now. "What was it about?" "The war." The detective looked confused, John hadn't dreamt about the war in a very long time. He would have thought that the dreams would have had something to do with Elizabeth. "Go on."

"I was in Afghanistan again. They were planning an ambush and I had come with them. The troops attacked and I ran with them. The guns were going off and the dust was rising. Within seconds I could hear people calling for a medic so I rushed over. The person that had been shoot was a girl, it was Elizabeth."

Sherlock nodded, so it was about Elizabeth after all.

"She looked like she did after Moriarty had poisoned her. Her entire body was shaking and spamming. She was wearing a military uniform but it had been torn to shreds. I've seen bodies like that after a machine gun got them. There was blood oozing from her stomach, she was already lying in a pile of her own blood.

I tried to stop the bleeding but it was clearly already too late, and she was screaming. You should have heard her, the sound that came from her throat was horrible. Her breathing was rasping as she grabbed my shirt. Her hand was mangled and broken, worse than the way I had broken it. Finally she stopped screaming and slumped down, she wasn't moving anymore and didn't have a pulse anymore.

I was frozen in place, still holding her with blood on my hands when a gun went off near me. I reflex I grabbed my gun and shot the person in front of me. Only it wasn't an enemy, it was Elizabeth. My gun didn't stop, I shot her again and again. I shot more rounds then I had in my gun. She hadn't been shooting me, she had been trying to hit Moriarty, who had been standing behind me.

The man was laughing as a crazy maniac and Elizabeth lay on the ground. She was twitching and gasping for air. I couldn't move as Moriarty moved towards her and picked her up. She was trying to push him away but he grabbed a knife and slit her stomach open. Then I woke up."

When he finished his story he calmed down slightly. "God Sherlock. I thought these nightmares were over." "Well you had a horrible trauma and now you are walking with a limp again. It probably brought a lot of bad memories back. "No kidding." The detective set his hand onto the wounded man's shoulder. "You alright?"

When John nodded he got up to leave him, but the doctor grabbed his arm. "Would you mind staying here a little longer? Just for. Just for…" "I'll stay." He sat back down on the edge of the bed and John let go of him. "Thanks." Neither of them noticed Mrs Hudson behind them with a small smile.

John turned onto his side and tried to fall asleep again. However the feeling of Sherlock just sitting there, watching him, didn't make it easy. "You can lie down if you want. This is a little awkward with you watching me." He stayed with his back to Sherlock, the man didn't seem sure what to do. "Uhm. Sure." The bed creaked as Sherlock moved to lie on his side.

The detective lay stiffly on the bedside, not daring not move on top of the covers. It was better than him staring at him he supposed. It took a little while longer but eventually he fell asleep. Sherlock lay stiffly next to the doctor, he had no clue how to act. He was afraid to move, he didn't want to wake him up, so that meant that he couldn't get out of bed either.

Johns breathing started to get more regular as he finally fell asleep. John was snoring slightly, it was calming. The sound of Johns breathing, the soft sheets, the warmth coming from his body, it felt like a soft rhythm. He started to drift of slightly when John shifted, his back touched Sherlock which startled him but comforted him.

After a couple of minutes he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **Chapter 28**

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The next morning Elizabeth woke up to the smell of medicine and the beeping of machinery. Seeing as she had asked her parents to get a hotel room and a goodnight sleep, she woke up alone. She whipped off sweat from her forehead. She had had another nightmare, this time Moriarty had come get her in her bedroom and raped her.

That son of a bitch would never get out of her head. A soft knock on the door alerted her that a nurse had just walked in. He checked her vitals and redid her bandages. "Looking pretty good today Elizabeth. You won't have to stay in the hospital a lot longer." "Do you think I could take a shower anytime soon?" she asked nervously.

"You should be able to do that, but not alone. I mean with all the bandages and your broken hand, it wouldn't be a good idea. But I could get someone in here to give you a hand, so you can clean up." Elizabeth hesitated for a second, she wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but she smelled.

"Alright." The nurse smiled kindly before leaving the room. She fidgeted nervously with her sheets till another nurse came inside. "Let us get you cleaned up alright?" Elizabeth smiled as she got out of her bed. The nurse helped her walk towards a different room. "Now you can't actually take a real shower because it will only hurt your wounds. Let us get you undressed first."

When the nurse wanted to help her take of her clothes she took a quick step backwards. "I can get undress myself." Turns out, she really couldn't, she couldn't get her shirt of seeing as her arm was bandaged in. "Let me help Elizabeth." "Fine."

The nurse carefully unhooked her arm rest and pulled her shirt of. The woman took of her shoes, socks and her pants. When the nurse went for her underwear she stiffened, but she took no attention. Elizabeth covered herself up with her arms but it didn't really work. Her breathing quickened as she used a sponge to clean her.

Elizabeth closed her eyes which was a horrible mistake. The feeling of someone washing her of while naked, being alone in the room with a stranger. It was too much and her brain brought her back into the room. She stopped moving, her breathing became erratic and tears started to run down her face.

"Elizabeth are you alright?" she placed her hand on the teens shoulder, an innocent gesture but she didn't take it that way. She screamed and threw a punch, slamming her fist into the nurse's face and jumped backwards. Within seconds several more nurses came inside, when they realised what was going on, they jumped on her. They grabbed her and tried to calm her down, but it only made her worse.

There where hands on bodies, they were grabbing at her, holding her. People were talking to her, but all she could hear was Moriartys voice. She tried to punch them and get them off of her, when suddenly a needle pierced her skin. Her eyes grew ten sizes, she was going to die. She was going to die again. Her vision became blurry and she couldn't move anymore.

"Please no." she whimpered before her legs gave way and everything went dark.

Elizabeth's eyes flew open and she shot upwards. Panic seized her as she felt bounds around her wrists and ankles, she was tied down again. "No! No! No! Not again! Let me go!" she trashed in her bed. "Leave me alone!" people ran towards her and pushed her down onto the matrass.

"No!" the hands were pulled from her, as someone yelled in the room. She couldn't focus as she tugged at the restraints, she didn't need this. She didn't want to go through this again. Someone grabbed her head and stilled her. "Elizabeth focus!"

She couldn't breathe properly. "I am here Elizabeth. I am here and so is John. You are alright. Your family is here and he is gone." Her breathing wasn't slowing down, she was having a full blown panic attack. "Elizabeth!" She wasn't reacting to his words so she would have to react to his actions. A hand came over her mouth and nose, cutting of her airway.

The room blew up, people were screaming again, but the hand didn't leave her. She couldn't breathe anymore, someone was trying to kill her. She looked upwards at her killer. "Look at me Elizabeth." There was a man hanging over her and she concentrated on him. "Look at me." She didn't want to see Moriarty, she didn't want him to be the last thing she saw, but she couldn't stop it.

Her eyes focused on the face in front of her as her throat started to burn. Instead of seeing the cold brown eyes she had been expecting she saw a pair of desperate blue ones. She was confused for a second. Sherlock? As if he sensed what she was thinking his hand left her face. "You are okay."

Elizabeth looked around as she recognized her family at their shocked faces as she realised what she had done. "It is okay Elizabeth, just breath." Sherlock unshackled her arms and legs. "That nurse. Did I hurt her? Is she okay?" Her mother moved forward and grabbed her hand. "You hit her, but she didn't get hurt too bad." When Sherlock stepped back from Elizabeth's bed, her brother shot into action. He pinned the detective to the wall. "You son of a bitch." "Luuk stop!"

"What the hell do you think you were doing? You could have killed her!" His hands were gripped tightly around his neck, the detective didn't even fight back. "Luuk let him go!" John grabbed the kids shoulder but he shoved him backwards, making him stumble to the ground. "Sherlock wasn't going to hurt her! He was helping her!" "He was choking her!" "You are chocking him now!"

Seeming to realise that the detective wasn't doing all that well he let him go. Coughing loudly he stepped backwards. "Your sister was having a panic attack and giving her a sedative would only make it a lot worse. I managed to get her to calm down." "By chocking her!"

"No, by giving her something to concentrate on. In her head she was back with Moriarty, being tied down didn't help. She needed to focus on me so she would realise that she wasn't in fact in danger. I forced her to look at me by stopping her breathing. All I need her to do was look me in the eye, and I would be able to calm her down."

"It is true Luuk. Sherlock was helping her, it wasn't the most conventional or best way but he did help her." "Why would I believe you? You are just trying to protect your friend." "Yes, but I am also a doctor." The boy looked at his sister, she still looked pretty flustered but she looked okay.

His sister stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "Why are you two here?" Elizabeth's voice was a little raspy from the lack of air. "Your parents called us. They told us you had had another panic attack." "You called them?" she asked her parents with a little bit frustration.

To be honest it hadn't gone all that smooth. Sherlock's phone had gone off in the morning which had woken him up. He wanted to get out of bed but he was so comfortable, it was so warm in the bed. He turned to grab the phone but something was keeping him from moving. In the night he had moved, and so had John, leaving them in a rather awkward position.

John was snuggled up against him, with his arms around his waist. He too was wrapped around John making it rather difficult to move away. He carefully untangled himself and reached for the phone. John woke up to the sound and moved closer before finally waking up. The doctor had been completely shocked but kept silent as Sherlock gestured to the phone. They decided not to talk about it.

"It is just that they were so good at helping you the last time. I thought you might want to see them." John limped to sit next to her. "Elizabeth it isn't a problem. If you need help, we will be there." "I need to find a way to deal with this on my own, I'll be back in Belgium in a little while."

"You don't have to do anything by yourself sweetheart, we will always be there for you." The mother grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly. "I know mum." Sherlock groaned mentally, Elizabeth didn't believe that her parents could help her.

"Maybe we can help you. Maybe we can help you with a coping mechanism." The girl frowned. "I don't need a coping mechanism." "Don't lie to yourself Elizabeth. I can see what you going through. I know what you are going through." "No you don't!" the sudden outburst surprised everyone in the room. "You really don't John! You have no idea what I am going through! I wake up every night drenched in sweat and I will never be able to forget. Every time I close my eyes I see him! I see feel him! You have no idea!"

"Yes I do Elizabeth." John whipped away a tear from her cheeks. "I might not know what it feels like to be Moriartys play thing. But I do know what it feels like to wake up screaming. I know what it is like to feel on high alert the entire time. I know what it feels like to never forget. When I came back from the war, I felt alone and afraid. I was lost, but Sherlock helped me. Sherlock saved me and he could help you too."

The teen looked at Sherlock and John, she trusted them, but she was reluctant. "Alright." "Could Elizabeth and I talk for a second?" the parents nodded and left the room. John sat down onto a chair and Sherlock moved slightly closer. "When you get stuck, when you get stuck in this world with Moriarty. If you feel like you are going to lose yourself or if you are going to drowning, you need to find something to hold on to."

"Like what?" "It can be anything. A person, an image, some kind of stone or even a sentence. If you have something that you can hold onto you can use that as a clutch on reality. It will keep you grounded. "Do you have one?"

John nodded as he pulled out a small pocket watch. "My grandmother gave it to me, it used to be my grandfathers. I had always wanted it as a kid. Sherlock saw me having a panic attack and had the same talk with me as he had with me. The watch was something familiar and good but had nothing to do with the war. It was perfect, it took me a while to make it work. But now, if I feel or see the watch I can ground myself."

Sherlock smiled proudly at John. "What about you Sherlock." The detective blushed slightly. "My stronghold is Redbeard." "Redbeard?" "My dog. When I was a kid I had this beautiful Irish setter with amazing red curls. He used to be my best friend. He could always calm me down as a kid, and he still can."

"Aw… That is adorable." "Do you have anything in mind Elizabeth?" The teen shook her head. "I don't think so, but I could look for one." "Once you have one, you need to keep it with you at all times and if you feel bad you use it. Even if it doesn't work at first, you need to keep trying."

"Will do." Sherlock looked a little hesitant, as if he still wanted to say something else. "What is it Sherlock?" "Nothing." "Don't lie to me Sherlock, what is it?" "I am just a bit worried what will happen to you back in Belgium." "You think that Moriarty will come after me?" her voice trembled with panic at the thought alone. "No no no. It's not that." Her body visibly relaxed. "What then?" "I'm just can't help you in Belgium the way I can in England."

She smiled at him slightly. "Sherlock, don't worry about it. My parents will be there and I'll go find a therapist soon." John grabbed the detectives shoulder. "Having some problems letting go?" the man shoved him off. "No. I am not." the pouting face of the tall man and the ridicules smile from the doctor set Elizabeth of laughing.

The mother came in to see that what was going on and smiled at the display in front of her. Though the laugh was soft and short it was the first time Elizabeth had smiled in genuine since she had been kidnapped.

* * *

 **Chapter 29**

* * *

For the next five days Elizabeth stayed in the hospital as the doctors ran a couple of other tests and had her lie down in bed. Her parents brought her books and her computer so she could do write and called her friends over skype. It was a little awkward in the beginning, she wasn't internally sure what to say but after a while they got very comfortable.

Sherlock and John swung by several times, they brought food from outside the hospital. She was impossibly grateful for that, her parents didn't think it was a good idea so they had gotten quite good at hiding it from them.

One day as they were talking about hobbies she found out that the detective played a violin. So she asked him to bring it, which he did. She instantly fell in love with the sound, she had never really appreciated the violin until he played it. It was absolutely amazing, unlike anything she had heard before. After that he always brought with him.

After five days the doctors decided to let her out of the hospital. She was ecstatic about it, she couldn't wait to get out of that bed. Her parents wanted to go home as soon as possible, they wanted her to go back to Belgium, her grandparents wanted to see her again and make sure she was alright.

They called Sherlock and John to tell them, the men had said that they would meet them at the train station. Elizabeth was a little stressed out, she still hadn't been outside of the hospital in at least 10 days, but she was eager to leave. When she walked over the threshold a smile spread over her face. It felt great to be outside again, the fresh hair and the soft wind. She didn't get a lot of time to enjoy it as her parents pulled her into a taxi.

She looked outside of her window at the buildings and the people. Her frame relaxed for a little while until her mother decided to wrap her arm around her neck. The second her mother pulled her into her side she freaked, she wasn't in the arms of her loving mother, but of the horrible Moriarty. At first her mother didn't realise what was going on but then Elizabeth curled in onto herself and whimpered slightly.

She was back in the car with Moriarty. He was pressed into her side and she couldn't move away. She couldn't get away from his towering form and his lingering fingers on her leg. His mouth only centimetres away from her ear, his warm breath tickling in her ear.

The woman let go of her daughter immediately and started to apologise. Luckily she had reacted quickly and Elizabeth didn't fall into a full-fledged panic attack. The rest of the car drive was spend in an awkward silence till they arrived at the station. Part of her wished they could have visited a London a little longer. Another part of her wanted desperately to go back home. Now, even in the car she was worried about seeing Moriarty again.

Elizabeth was incredibly happy when she finally was allowed out of the car again. The space had gone incredibly cramped after her little attack, her family didn't really feel comfortable to say anything. Her parents grabbed the bags from the trunk, she too picked up her back bag and swung it onto her back in habit. This was a mistake. The quick movement plus the fact that the heavy bag slammed into her back sent a wave of pain through her.

The bag dropped to the ground with a little yelp, a bystander rushed forward to help her. The stranger picked up her blue bag, and handed it to her. The woman was a head taller than her and had a long blond locks. When her blue eyes met Elizabeth's brown ones the bag nearly hit the ground again, the woman looked shocked. "You are. You are."

She stuttered. "No way. I thought you surely had died!" the woman exclaimed. Elizabeth took a startled step backwards. "Who are you?" her brother stepped behind her protectively. "I… I saw you online! I followed everything from nearly the start!" Elizabeth went pale, this woman was one of the viewers, she took another step backwards and grabbed her brother's arm.

This person had seen her dying. She had been sitting and watched her struggle to breathe and scream in pain. "I had never seen anything like this! What happened afterwards?" Luuk let out a low growl. "Leave, now." "What? I just wanted to talk with Elizabeth for a little while!" "I said get out!" it came out as a roar, which caught the attention of her parents.

"What is going on? Elizabeth? Luuk? Are you alright?" the woman realised she was severely outmanned so she handed the bag to the boy and quickly left. "Wat was dat? (What was that all about?)" "Niets mama, niets. (Nothing mum, nothing.)"

Her mum looked at the lady as she hurried of, clearly thinking about going off after her. "Laten we gaan mama. (Let's go mum.)" She pulled her mother with her by her sleeve. They entered Sint-Pancras together, she kept her bag in her hand.

Elizabeth felt as if people were starting at her. She wasn't sure if it was paranoia or if people had actually seen her on video. It didn't really matter though, it felt just the same, it made her skin crawl. Sensing her unease her sister came forward and grabbed her hand, and stayed with her till they reached the platform.

She let out a relieved sigh when she saw Sherlock and John standing at the platform. She smiled and pulled away from Mays grip. She grabbed Sherlock and pulled him into a hug, surprising them both. "Hello Elizabeth." He smiled as he carefully wrapped his hands around her. She finally let him go and moved towards John.

"How are you Elizabeth?" "I'm good. It is nice to be in the open again." Sherlock saw that Elizabeth wasn't telling the truth. Something had happened, but he wouldn't force her to talk. "Exited to go back home?" The doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I can't wait. I want to see my friends again."

Her parents stepped forward and shook the men's hands. "Thank you again for what you did for Elizabeth." When Sherlock accepted his hand he realised that the parents weren't fully comfortable with the idea that their daughter was this comfortable with them. They were older men that they barely knew, they were the reason for her kidnapping and being abused. Too bad he didn't really care about their opinions.

Sherlock reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black bag. He gave it to her. "A gift. From us." Elizabeth opened it and pulled out a silver chain, on the end of it was a key. She studied it, on the top was a small inscription. 221B. it was the size of an actual key and looked like on too. She ran her finger over the markings.

"It is beautiful. Thank you so much!" "It is a key to our apartment." "What?" she didn't even try to hide her surprise. "What?" "If you ever find yourself in London again, you can always come and visit us. Our apartment is always open for you."

The detective could feel the disapproval rolling from her parents, but he also felt Elizabeth's happiness radiating from her. "Thank you so much Sherlock. John!" she put it around her neck and fastened it. "We wanted to give you at least something to remember us by. Well at least something good."

Elizabeth's hand went to her stomach in reflex but she smiled kindly. "The train is here, we should get going." Her dad put his hand on her shoulder, ending the moment. She nodded but hesitated slightly. She turned around and wrapped her arms around John again and then she pulled Sherlock into another hug.

"I am going to miss you guys a lot." "You can always call me if you need our help with anything." "I know." Her father led her away and onto the train. She waved at them as the doors closed and the train slowly departed. Her heart broke a little when she saw the men disappear into the distance. "We gaan naar huis schat. (We are going home sweetheart.)"

The girl rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. She quickly moved her head of the glass, the position was incredibly uncomfortable. She grabbed her bag, pulled out her book and started to read. She had finished a total of 10 books in the hospital but she still couldn't get bored of the amazing stories. This one was about a young girl who had grown up in a world with dragons. The girl became the first female dragon worrier in the world.

Halfway through the book however, she fell asleep. This was one of the only times her dreams didn't include Moriarty. She had dreamed about being in a forest, on the back of a beautiful black dragon. It was huge, and covered with obsidian scales. Its wings stretched out to a span of 4 meters each. Her hair blew in the wind, as she held on to one of the ginormous spikes.

Elizabeth let out a loud laugh, and her dragon roared so loud that her bones shook in her own body. At that exact moment she felt invincible. The dragon flew higher and higher until they were high above the forests. They were flying between mountains, the peeks were covered by pearly white snow.

She let go of the spike and stretched her arms outwards, it felt like she was flying by herself. She could feel the muscles of the dragon between her legs as it moved its wings. They soared above the world and no one could reach them.

Suddenly she heard someone say her name and someone shook her shoulder. She startled awake. "We zijn er Liz. Tijd om op te staan. (We are here Liz. Time to wake up.)" She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and got up, putting her books back in her bag.

The second she got out of the station she was swarmed by men and women she didn't know. They had cameras and microphones and they shoved it into her face. She stumbled backwards and let out a surprised yelp, she couldn't understand what the people were saying. They were asking questions and demanding answers.

As panic seized her heart and she became light headed her hand reached the key. It was almost automatic, she squeezed the key so hard into her chest that it would certainty leave an imprint. Her mother grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd.

They moved towards the parking as the people kept on screaming at them. "Stop." She whispered it, not even loud enough for her mother to hear. "Ik zei stop! (I said stop!)" She screamed it this time, finally silencing the reporters. "Laat mij met rust! Aub! Laat me toch met rust! (Leave me alone. Please! Just leave me alone!)"

They were a bit taken aback by her sudden outburst, and it gave them a chance to slip away and into the car. There were still people standing around but they weren't attacking her with questions anymore. Just filming. The car drove of and she kept her hand around the key until they finally arrived home. Elizabeth hurried out of the car and walked inside.

Her parents wanted to welcome her home but she just headed up to her room and closed the doors. She slid down onto the ground and rested her head against the wall. She was home.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading another chapter! I hope you liked it and please leave a review if you do! The link is to a picture of the necklace that Sherlock&John gave Elizabeth.

Sherlock-Vintage-Baker-Street-Necklace/dp/B00YPB3KWA


	10. Chapter 10 - Healing

**A/N:** There is some more flemisch in this chapter but I added the english translation between brackets. So why add the flemish you ask. Well... I don't know authenticity I guess! Hope you like the new chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

* * *

At first she had thought she might be able to handle this. It couldn't be all that hard right? I mean surely she could recover, a couple of therapy sessions and some weeks at home and she'd be her old self again.

She was wrong. When she went to bed that night it felt good to be in her old bed again. It took a little while to get really comfortable, her back and her stomach hurt in whatever positions she laid. But she bore through it, she closed her eyes till she relaxed just enough to fall asleep.

Her eyes fell closed and she curled underneath the warm sheets. When she fell asleep her dreams weren't good, they were horrible. Moriarty grabbed her and threw her onto her own bed, his hands where everywhere. He touched her and shoved himself between his legs.

His touch burned the same way the metal had felt when she had been marked. Elizabeth screamed into her dream but no sound came out, she couldn't even move anymore. A sudden burst of adrenaline woke her from her sleep, she was panting and sweating horribly. Blood dripped from her palms from where she had shoved her fingernails into them.

She sat up straight but she couldn't see anything, the room was too dark. Everything became hazy as her breath started to become faster and faster. It felt as if someone was suffocating her, she couldn't breathe. Terrified she clawed at her throat not realising that it was an internal force that kept her panicking, not an external one.

She could feel herself slipping and with a tiny whimper she fell back into a feverous dream. This time she wasn't met with Moriartys horrible grin but with Sherlock's gentle smile. He stretched out his hand as if to help her stand up. She reached forward and tried to grab his hand. Though no threat presented itself at that exact moment she felt in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong.

If she didn't hurry up something bad would happen to her. Her movements were slow and sluggish, the dread filled her at a quickening pace. Sherlock's face slowly transformed, he didn't look kind or hopeful anymore. It started to change into grief and terror. He opened his mouth and she could see his lips form her name.

The ground underneath her started to shake and the detective started to step backwards. Their fingers briefly touched before he retreated completely. "No wait." Her voice came out so soft that she could barely hear it. The ground split underneath her and she grasped at the earth and the soil. She couldn't get up, but she tried to at least stay on the surface.

The ground underneath her solidified and her nails broke during her desperate attempts. A deep and dreadful darkness swallowed her as she fell deeper and deeper into the pit. She could hear Sherlock scream her name in the back of her head as the cold wrapped itself around her.

The cold became so biting and so hard that it felt as a thousand needles piercing her skins. They went through her eyes, her nose and every other part of her body it could find. She could feel the cold eating away at her skin, she wrapped her arms around her body trying to warm and protect herself.

The cold became so intense that it started to burn her. The cold found its way into her throat and filled her lungs till everything became frozen. A sharp pain in the back of her head ripped herself from the cold. The cold left her system so abruptly that it send a wave of shook through her bones.

She was on a certain fabric, it felt warm and comfortable, yet strange. She reached for her head, where the pain had come from. The warm liquid was a nice contrast to the bitter cold from just before. She realised that the pain wasn't only coming from the back of her head, it came from her stomach and back as well. When she touched those place her fingers only got more stained. She didn't know how it had happened and reached around. Her hands were still trembling in the dark, she had a hard time concentrating anymore, and she wasn't even sure where she was at the moment.

Part of her knew that she was in her room, but she wasn't in her bed, so maybe she wasn't in her room either. She reached around, trying to find a switch so she could turn on the light. When she sat up and started to move she froze. A primal instinct inside of her told her not to move, not to move another muscle. If she did something bad might happen.

Elizabeth looked around the room, she could see shadows. Correction she could see a shadow, a figure standing at her doorway. It stood between her and her way out of the room. The little light that came from underneath the doorway was enough for her too see the outlines of the man.

A shiver ran through her body as she looked at the man. A loud laugh filled her ears. A deep and horrible chuckle. The man moved forward with a decisive step. It took her only a couple of seconds to move into action. Elizabeth leapt upwards and stumbled backwards till she hit a wall.

Her hand ran over the walls of her room, looking for the light switch. The man became less and less human, his figure stretched outwards. It became long and thin, its arms and legs didn't seem solid and the eyes shone red like a predator.

Her attacker was only a couple of steps away from her. Her chest tightened in fear. She knew that she couldn't possibly fight it and he had cut of her only means of escape. Tears started to fill her eyes as a shaky breathe past by her lips. Her knees were just about to buckle, when her hand found something uneven.

The light switch! She flipped it and her room filled with a bright and artificial light. She blinked a couple of times adjusting to the sudden light. At first she could have sworn that there was still a silhouette in front of her, but it was still an after figure.

Her gaze raced across the room, to make sure that there was nothing or no one with her. But she was alone, her eyes ran over the light blue coloured walls, her messy bureau covered with papers, pens and a laptop. She was standing on her azure blue carpet, there were tints of red on it. She lifted her shirt up and looked at the bandages, a red spot had started to grow. Some of her wounds must have gone open.

Realising that the man had probably been a figment of her imagination, she sunk to her knees and buried her face in her hands. At first she managed to hold it together a little longer but it didn't last long. She started to cry softly, trying to forget her dreams. But the cold had routed itself into her bones and in strong contrast with the burning sensation where Moriarty had touched her.

Elizabeth reached for a blanket and wrapped it around her form. The girl tried to get warm again, but she could still feel it. She had to distract herself, to concentrate on something, anything again. Finally she reached for the phone on the nightstand. She opened her YouTube app and started to scroll through videos. She ended up doing that for an hour, and then another one, and then another hour till finally her mother came to see if she was awake.

She was exhausted, she hadn't slept since her nightmares and when she had been sleeping, it had been filled so horrifying that it had only drained her more. She got up shakenly and went to the bedroom. She looked in the mirror and she was shocked. Her face had sunken in and tears strips ran down her face. The back of her head was matted together with blood. She quickly went into the shower and started to scrub desperately till she was completely clean. She went downstairs and sat at the table with her family, they looked worryingly at her. They smiled at her, and made polite conversation but she could see it in their faces.

They looked at each other worryingly when they thought that she wasn't looking. It made her feel incredibly claustrophobic so it took her only a couple of minutes for her to excuse herself. She didn't want to deal with this at the moment. Elizabeth went back to her room and closed the door behind herself. She picked up a book and started to read it.

She didn't notice her parents coming inside to check on her, or her sister calling her downstairs for supper. She finally put down her book when she had trouble seeing the letters. It had gotten dark outside, she went downstairs to get herself some food.

Once she had finished eating a bit of food she realised that she was tired. So she did what was any normal person would do, she went to bed. It was however rather hard to actually fall asleep, the thought that those horrible dreams would start again made it a little difficult.

But she tried it anyway, she had to try and sleep. After a little while her eyes finally fell closed, she curled up into a little ball and the dreams started up again. This time John was there, he was in the cage again. He sat in his dirty shirt and his bloody pants. He was slumped forward, his head resting on his chest. She too was stuck in a cage, she felt the thick metal bounds around her wrists and tugged at them in reflex. To her surprise they came loose and fell to the ground with a rattling sound.

There were still chains on her but they were not attached to anything. She placed her hand against the chains and pushed against the door. Strangely enough it wasn't locked, she swung it open. "John?" she crept out of the cage and walked towards his cage. "John. Wake up!" the doctor didn't react.

She grabbed his door and pulled it open. He didn't move so she grabbed his shirt. "John stop kidding around, you need to wake up." She shook him hard. "John!" he reached forward and grabbed her sleeve. She looked up quickly. "John?" the rest was drowned out by a scream as he twisted her arm backwards till it snapped. Hard.

She shoved him backwards but his grip was like iron. "Let go!" she punched his face and he didn't even flinch. She looked into his eyes and saw nothing. His eyes were vacant and void of emotion. "John?" she whimpered softly. The man got up, standing on his broken knee, and shoved her against the bars. "This is your fault." He hissed. "It is your fault that they are dead. You lead him to them."

"What?" the punch caught her of guard, it hit her hard on her right cheek. She would have fallen to the ground if he wasn't still holding onto her arm. "It is all your fault!" she felt as if she was stuck in a cage with a wild animal. "John please!" the next punch hit her in the gut and made her double over.

He threw her out of the cage and onto the ground. She landed on the ground hard. She steadied herself on her hands and she felt something wet and hot. She brought her hands to her face and saw the deep red colour of blood. John bore down on her and kicked her sharply in the chin.

She flew backwards her head falling into the pool of blood. She scrambled backwards but something hindered her way. Elizabeth turned around and noticed someone lying on the floor. It was a young boy, his brown curls were stained with the blood. He had his back at her but she was sure that she knew him.

Elizabeth didn't have a lot of time to study him when John grabbed her by her hair and tugged her too her feet. "John stop!" he pulled her with him and walked around the body. When she looked up she saw that the boy wasn't alone. There were 3 more bodies, a man, a woman and a little girl.

"No…" she whimpered, this wasn't possible. "Look at them Elizabeth! Look at them!" he moved the body of the boy with his heel turning him over. "No!" a scream ripped from her lips as she looked into the dead blue eyes of her brother. "This is your fault!" he moved her around and shoved her onto her knees.

She was face to face with her little sister. "May." She sobbed as she saw Mays face. In between her chocolate brown eyes was a red bullet hole. Blood was still dripping down and over her nose. "What happened?" "You did!" she lurched back up as John pulled at her hair. He brought her face at his and slammed his fist into her nose. "You should have just died and ended it all!" he wrapped his hands around her small neck and squeezed it tightly.

"If you had just died. If you had just died! He wouldn't have found them! If you had died, they would be alive!"

She woke up shivering and drenched in sweat.

* * *

 **Chapter 31**

* * *

The nightmares didn't stop. Every night the second she fell asleep the dreams would come and they would haunt her. It got that so bad that she dreaded going to sleep. After every nightmare it would take her at least an hour to calm down.

Most of the time she would watched video's until the morning. She kept waking up faster and faster. Until one night when she turned off the light her heart skipped a beat, her breath quickened and panic filled her system. She just didn't want to deal with that again, so she didn't. Elizabeth switched her light back on, wrapped a blanket a tightly around her body and opened her phone again.

That was the first night that she didn't even attempt to sleep. She didn't sleep the next night either. Or the night after that. It became more and more a pattern, till she got so exhausted during the day that she fell asleep at all times. One day during lunch she just slumped forward in her chair, her parents were terrified that she might be having an attack.

Her parents decided that it couldn't go on like this anymore and she was send to a therapist. It was a nice and old lady who clearly knew what she was doing, but this wasn't something she was used to. It wasn't everyday your patient was a girl that had been tortured by a master criminal.

One night she fell asleep again and the dreams dragged her down into a horrible place. When she awoke she had been tangled in her bedsheets which had only made it a lot worse. She couldn't get herself to calm down and in reflex she reached for her phone, but instead her hand found a small key.

Her hand wrapped around the little object and brought it to her chest. She squeezed her eyes closed and concentrated on the outline of the key. Her fingers trailed over the markings on the silver material. It was smooth and cold in the palm of her hand. She moved the chain over her finger, the links trailed over the finger tips.

Her breathing event out and she took a deep breath. When she brought the key to her nose and breathe in, the key smelled slightly coppery. It felt nice.

Once she was calm enough she picked up her phone. She was just about to put on YouTube when her eyes were attracted to the contact app. Carefully she opened it and scrolled down till she reached Johns number. Her finger hesitated over the call button, she wanted to press down but it was the dead of night surely she couldn't call him now.

They had said she could call at any given moment right? But that didn't mean the dead of night. As she was thinking she accidently pressed down and it started to call. It took her a couple of seconds before she actually realised that she was calling him.

Before she could stop it from calling John picked up. "Elizabeth are you alright?" he sounded worried. "Yes, I'm fine. I am so sorry for waking you up." "Don't worry you didn't wake me up, I wasn't asleep yet. Why did you call?" "It was an accident. I'm sorry, I'll hang up." "No. Don't. I can hear it in your voice, you are not okay."

Elizabeth wasn't entirely sure what to do. "You can tell me everything, you know that right." The girl coughed softly. "Alright. I've been having nightmares." "Nightmares." "Yes. About what happened with Moriarty and other dreams?" "Tell me about them." So she did. Hesitant at first but it quickly became a lot fast and it felt good to let it all out.

She told them about her dreams and how she didn't sleep anymore, and he just listened. He didn't analyse them or try to tell her what to do. When she was done, the phone was silent for a couple of seconds. "Whenever you have another dream like that you can call me, no matter what time it is."

"Thank you John." Elizabeth smiled at the phone. "It really isn't a problem. Do you think you can try to sleep again?" "I'm not sure. I don't want to dream again." "Maybe we can find a way to keep you from having such nightmares." "How?" "When I came back from the war I had a lot of nightmares about a lot of different things. One night I woke up from a dream screaming and Sherlock was standing next to me. He stayed with me till I fell asleep and while I was a sleep. He did that every night that I had a nightmare till I finally stopped having them."

"Are you suggesting that I find Sherlock and sleep with him?" she joked. "No, maybe not that. But maybe one of your parents could sleep stay with you during the night. Not being alone can do a lot to a person." "I'll give it a try." "Good. Are you seeing a psychiatrist?" "Yes. She is a really nice person." "You don't sound all that exited." "Well she is nice, but I'm not sure how to start."

She could hear him sigh softly. "You don't have to initiate anything. All you have to do is be honest and try to tell everything you can. Don't try to sugar coat anything." "But she asks all these unimportant questions." "What does she ask?"

"What I have been doing lately. Who I have talked to." "She is trying to assess how you are feeling right now. What your mental state is. She'll get to the questions, you just have to bare through it a little." Elizabeth groaned. "But it isn't helping." "Give it a little time, it will help in a little while."

"Al right, I'll give it a try." "Good. I promise you it will help." "I'll let you go to bed now. Thanks again John." "Are you sure?" "Yes. I'll be fine. Goodnight." "Goodnight Elizabeth. Try to get some sleep." She hung up the phone and put it down, she knew she wasn't going to go back to sleep again, but she would at least follow the rest of his advice.

The next morning Elizabeth walked downstairs and started to clean herself up. She dressed herself and opened her computer. After John's speech she decided she had to try and open up. She would try and open herself up to her friends. Opening Facebook she send a message to one of her best friends, Davy. Her full name was Davina but everyone called her Davy.

The message was a simple one. Just a little hello and asking how she was. After that she waited till she would answer. She waited a full hour before it turned to read. Excitement bubbled up in her stomach, she was a little scared for what she would respond. A tiny bing came from her computer and she happily read it.

Her friend was exited and asked her how she was doing in all caps. Out of reflex she answered with 'good' which was a lie but all of her friend ignored her and they started up a normal conversation. They talked about school and what she had missed, they talked about series they watched and people in her school.

The conversation was easy going and light hearted and for a moment she felt as if everything was back to normal. She forgot about the things that had happened to her, she forgot about Moriarty, Sherlock, John, she forgot about it all. And honestly it felt really good.

Of course that can't last forever, her mother came into the room to tell her that it was time for her to the psychiatrist. She told Davy she'd see her later and got up. The entire car ride she fidgeted with the little key around her neck. Elizabeth felt her mother glance disapprovingly at it a couple of times, she knew that she didn't approve of the necklace.

If it was up to her mum she would have cut of all contact with the two men. But it wasn't up to her and she wasn't ready to let go of them just yet. When she got out of the car she stretched. She was going to talk, she was going to answer every question that she asked. Every single one.

And she did, it wasn't easy and it took a lot of patients but she answered every question that was asked. And John had been right, after the first hour of stupid trivial questions that she couldn't care less about the real deal started. Ingeborg (the name of her psychiatrist) sat up straighter. "Now, Elizabeth I know that this isn't something easy to talk about, but I'd like to start talking about your kidnapping."

The young girl swallowed hard. "What would you like to know?" "Let us start at the beginning. When did you first see Moriarty? Tell me about your meeting." She started out slowly but after a little while it all came out. When she got to her first choice, to go with him or not, Ingeborg stopped her. "Why did you go with him?"

"I had to. I mean, I did didn't I?" "Is that what you believe?" "Yes! If _I_ hadn't gone with him, he would have kidnapped another innocent girl." "So you felt you should go, and spare someone else the pain." "Yes, I didn't want to have that on my conscience." "Several other girls didn't go with him." "Indeed." "Did you feel like they did something wrong."

"No of course not! They must have been terrified and they were given a way out. So they took it!" "So why didn't you take it. I don't think I would have been able to live with the knowledge that someone was in pain because of me." "But you know it wouldn't have been your fault." "Well, I could have avoided it." "So you felt responsible for them." "I guess so…" the woman took some notes and told her to continue.

She told her a little more before the session was over. Elizabeth felt very strange, her emotions were all messed up, she had felt good before but now she felt rather empty. It didn't fell really bad, but it didn't feel good either. The rest of the drive she stayed quiet and confused. Once she got home she sat her mother down. "Mama, zou je bij mij kunnen blijven vanavond? (Mum, could you stay with me tonight?)"

"Waarom? (Why?)" "Ik heb steeds meer nachtmerries en ik hoopte dat als ik niet alleen zou slapen ik misschien beter zou slapen. (I keep on having nightmares and I was hoping that if I didn't sleep alone, I might sleep better.)" "Oke, geen problem. We dachten al dat er iets was. (Okay, no problem. We thought that something was wrong.)"

So that night they went upstairs to the attic where they had a guest bedroom, which had a double bed. It was incredibly awkward, she hadn't slept with someone is such a long time. But exhaustion caught up with so after a bit of moving and wiggling in the sheets she fell asleep.

* * *

 **Chapter 32**

* * *

Sherlock was getting nervous, he knew that it might be best to let Elizabeth make the first move, but they hadn't heard from her in a couple of days now. John had told him to resume his normal day to day activities, but even a nitwit could see that the doctor was a little anxious.

One night as he lay sleeping a ringing phone woke him up. He groaned loudly he was however a little too late, he followed the sound to the living. Sitting in the living room chair was John, he was softly talking to someone on the phone. A worried but kind smile played on his lips. Once he noticed Sherlock he mouthed Elizabeth's name.

Sherlock went inside of the kitchen and put on a kettle. He wanted to know what they were talking about, but John seemed to be talking about something very serious. He poured himself and John a cup of tea and sat down across from his friend. He waited and listen to what the doctor was talking about.

A blush grew across his face when John mentioned them sleeping together. The doctor too shuffled around in his chair slightly. He shot a nervous laugh at the detective and continued his conversation with the destressed girl. After a little while he hung up the phone. "That was Elizabeth." "I figured. Why did she call?" "She had a nightmare and couldn't sleep. She accidently dialled my number." He grabbed his cup and started to sip it slightly.

"She'll be alright, Sherlock, it was just a nightmare." "Don't lie to me John, what else was going on?" "Okay well it wasn't just one nightmare. I don't think she has really been sleeping all that much." The two men sat in there in silence for a little longer, till they finished their drink. After that they went back to bed.

The next morning Sherlock started to accept clients again, one after the other client want inside and went outside again. None of them were interesting enough, they didn't distract him enough. However after a lot of convincing John managed to get Sherlock to at least take on chase.

The case was a simple one and he finished it in a day. But it was a start. The following day Lestrade called them, to ask for their help. So Sherlock went and consulted on the case. The next day Sherlock woke up late in the morning and he stumbled towards the bathroom. He rubbed his eyes sleepily as he pushed open the bathroom door and strode inside.

As he entered the room a yelp filled the room. His eyes flew open and he noticed John standing inside the shower, butt naked. "Oh god!" "Get the fuck out Sherlock!" he quickly stumbled backwards and out of the room. "Sorry John!" he screamed. "Learn to knock you bloody idiot! We have a door for a reason!" Sherlock chuckled at the remark. "Won't happen again!"

The detective sat down at the breakfast table and pulled out his phone to check on something for case. While he scrolled through the website, his phone went off as someone called him. He picked up with a grin. "Hello Elizabeth."

"I didn't wake you did I?" "No, no, I was awake. Is something wrong?" "No, I am alright. I just wanted to call you and John to say thank you." "What for?" "The advice." "Well that was John wasn't it? I'd give him to you but he is in the bathroom right now." "No that is alright, it is al right, I just wanted to talk for a second and see how you were doing?"

"You don't have to worry about us. We are doing fine. So how about you?" "I am doing okay. I've gone to my therapist a few times now, which helps a lot. And my mum has been staying with me during the night. It is a little weird, but it is okay I guess." "That is a great start. Have you met up with your friends yet?"

"No not yet. I mean, we have talked, but I don't know how to go and meet with them again." "What do you mean?" "I mean that I am not sure what to tell people. I don't think I can answer any questions yet. And they are bound to ask questions aren't they?" For a second there was silence on the other end.

"I might not know a lot about relationships between two people. But I know that people don't want to hurt others, especially friends. I know that people will lie and deceive to avoid hurting the people they care about." "What are you going on about?" "I mean that your friends will probably sense that you aren't ready to talk about what happened to you. So they won't force you to talk about anything."

"But with if they do?" "If they do, if they ask something you aren't ready to talk about yet, tell them, and they will listen." When Elizabeth didn't react he continued. "I promise." He could hear her swallow. "Okay, I'll try." 'Good." he could hear a door opening and John came outside, his hair still dripping from the shower. "John is here if you want to talk to him for a little while." "Yeah sure. Thank you again Sherlock." "No problem." He handed the phone to John.

The doctor glared at him once before taking hold of the phone. "Hey Elizabeth!" the doctor wandered off with the phone.

-Meanwhile back in Belgium with Elizabeth-

Sherlock handed the phone over to John and she smiled as the doctor greeted her. "How have you been Elizabeth?" he explained the situation to him like she had to John and the doctor continued to talk to her for a little while. "I'll leave you two too it." "You don't have to leave Elizabeth." "No, it is okay, I'll talk to you again soon." "Bye Elizabeth." "Goodbye."

She hung up the phone and grabbed her phone. For a second she hesitated, but she dialled her friend's number. Once her friend picked up she straightened herself. "Hey Davy, would you like to come over?" Her friend agreed eagerly, saying she had missed her and couldn't wait to meet up. They started talking about a date, when Davy suggested they'd go to them movie.

She hesitated slightly, she wasn't sure if it such an amazing idea to go out in public already. "Elizabeth?" "Yeah, sure good idea, any idea which movie?" "Yeah what about the new Pirates of the Caribbean's movie?" "Omg yes! I've been wanting to see that for a long time." So in an hour later her mother drove her to the cinema.

She got out of the car a little nervous and sat down on the steps. She waved her mother of and waited for her friend. "Lizzy!" a cry erupted from the crowd as Davy ran towards her. Davy was a person that tended to hug you without warning, even if you did really want one. Elizabeth braced herself as her friend rapped her arms around her tightly.

"Ik heb je zo hard gemist! (I missed you so much!)" She closed her eyes and blocked out all thoughts of Moriarty, focusing on the familiar sent of her friend. She smelled like green tea and honey. A tiny groan escaped her lips as she pressure build on her back. "Oh god sorry! Ik wou je niet pijn doen. (Oh god sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!)" "Geen problem. (No problem.)"

Her friend grabbed Elizabeth's hand and dragged her inside, she felt incredibly nervouse around all these people. The entire room was filled with people and they kept on bumping into her, Davy could feel her tense up so she squeezed her hand slightly. It felt weird to hold her hand, they had always had a close relationship, but they never held hands. She was however extremely thankful for it, as they moved through the dense crowds.

After a long while she reached the great cinema room, they walked towards the gigantic screen and sat down into their chairs with a grin. She let go of her friends hand and made herself comfortable. Once the movie started she melted away, she realised how good of an idea this was. She was in a crowded room but it didn't feel like that at all. It was a great exercise to get comfortable around people.

Once the movie was done they got back up and headed for the exit. "Will you wat FroYo hallen? (Would you like to get some frozen yoghurt?)" "Yes naturlijk! Wie zegt er toch ooit nee tegen frozen yoghurt? (Yes, of course! Whoever says no to get some frozen yoghurt?)" Davy threw her arm over Elizabeth's shoulder and they walked through the cities of Gent talking about the movie. Neither of them had great orientation skills so it took them a while to find the Moochies.

She got a medium vanilla with chocolate chips and coconut sprinkles while her friend went for the blueberry yoghurt with the tiny little marshmallows and speculoos. They went to the Schaapstal (a place in Gent) and sat down. "God dit is geweldig! (God this is amazing!)" "Echt he! Het was veel te lang geleden! (I know right! It has been way to long!)" "Ik was maar een weekje weg ze. (I was only gone for a week.)" She chuckled back, nuddig her friend slightly. "Ja, wel het voelde als veel langer. (Yeah well it felt a lot longer.)"

She realised that she hadn't stopped to think what her friends must have been going through while she was gone. They had no way of knowing whether or not she was ever going to come back. "Well ik ben terug nu, en dit is zeker voor herhaling vatbaar. (Well, I am back now and this is certainly something I'd want to repeat.)" "Dat zeker en vast! Wanneer kom je eigenlijk terug naar school? We missen je. (That is for sure! So when are you going back to school? We miss you.)"

"Ik weet het nog niet zeker. Waarschijnlijk als de nachtmerries beter onder controle zijn. (I am not sure yet. But probably when the nightmares are over.)" "Oh, ik wist niet dat je nachtmerries had. (Oh wow, I didn't know that you had nightmares.)" "

The silence that followed was slightly awkward. Not sure what to do Elizabeth changed the topic. "Hum, wel ik ga mijn haar blauw verven. (Hum… So I am going to paint my hair blue.)" "Wacht wat? (Wait what?)" "Ik ga mijn haar blauw verven, dat ging ik toch al land doen. (I am going to paint my hair blue, I've been planning to do it for months now.)" "Ja dat weet ik, je wou er niet over ophouden. Maar waarom nu? (Yeah I know. You wouldn't shut up about it. But why now?)"

"Mijn therapist zei dat het een goed idea was. Iets met dat het mij zou helpen om contole te vinden of zoiets. (My therapist thought that it would be a good idea, something about it helping me finding controle again.)" "Het klinkt logisch in een zeker zin… (It sounds logical I suppose.)" "Nee eigenlijk echt niet he. Maar nu mag het teminste van mijn ouders! (Nah, not really. But now I've got my parents premision!)"

The girls giggled. "Echt? (Really?)" "Uhuhm! De kapper afspraak staat al vast! (Uhuhm. The barber appointment is already made!)" "Hahaha! Heeft die therapist van jouw nog zo goude ideeën? (Hahaha! Does your therapist have any more of those ideas?)" "Eigenlijk wel ja! Ik ga aan kickboxen beginnen. (Actually she does. I am going to start kickboxing!)"

"OMG yes! Ik zie jou dat echt nog doen! (OMG yes! That really is something for you!)" "Als je wilt kun je meedoen! (You are welcome to join if you want to.)" "Echt dat zou geweldig zijn! (Really that would be amazing!)"

They stayed there till it was too cold to stay outside any longer talking about how badass they would be. They walked back towards the station underneath the stars, the city was alive with music and joy but the streets were relatively calm.

As she listened to Davy talking excitingly about several complot theories she had conjured up Elizabeth sighed. In that moment she wanted nothing to change.

* * *

 **A/N:** I would really like to thank everyone who has been leaving such amazing comments! You guys are absolutly amazing and make my day a million times better! Love you lots!


	11. Chapter 11 - The Finale Choice

**WARNING:** There will be suicide in this chapter but I'll put a warning before it actually happens.

 **A/N:** The angst is back people! And so is the dutch! If it bothers you please let me know and I'll stop it. Happy reading! :)

* * *

 **Chapter 33**

* * *

Slowly things got better after that. Because of her mother or father would stay with her during the night, the nightmare kept on decreasing. When they finally got down to one nightmare every two to three nights she decided to sleep on her own again.

Once she decided to do that her nightmares came back again, but now she had a better way of getting rid of them. So in no time at all she had a somewhat regular sleeping schedule.

After a month of therapy and rehabilitation for her hand they decided to go back to school again. Her parents had been very hesitant to let her go, they thought it would be rather dangerous and maybe even harmful.

But her therapist thought it was for the best and so did John and Sherlock. When she called them to talk about it they had been incredibly supportive. They had started to call every three days to give them an update and to just keep up to date with everything. Eventually her parents caved and they made preparations.

They made plans with her school so she would have a failsafe. They allowed her to sit with Davy and they would always allow her to leave her classroom without explanation if necessary. Even with that in mind she was incredibly nervouse as she got onto her bike to bike to her school. She plugged in her head phones and the entire way to her school she listen to her music and managed to stay calm.

When she finally arrived into the bike stand her friends were waiting for her. Elizabeth squeezed her silver key quickly before getting of her bike and pulling out her earplugs. Her friends embarrassed her the second her feet touched the ground. "Oh god Elizabeth! We zijn zo blij dat je terug bent! (Oh god Elizabeth! We are so happy to have you back!)"

They grabbed her hand and dragged her towards school. "Je hebt zoveel gemist! We hebben een mega ambetante stagiaire, maar we gaan hem wel kunnen weg jagen denk ik. (You missed so much! We have this extremely annoying intern, but we think we can scare him of.)"

"Jullie zijn zo'n assholes! (You guys are such big assholes!)" "Nee, hij verdient echt wel! Hij wordt uit het niks mega kwaad! (No, he really deserves it! He gets made over the littlest things!)"

When the bell rang they walked inside of the classroom. Her seat was in front of the class and she could feel the eyes of her classmates in her back. She started to panic slightly and had the incredible urge to get up and leave, but Davy grabbed her hand and made her sit down. "Je kunt dit Elizabeth. Het komt wel goed. (You can do this Elizabeth. It will be alright.)"

Her hand flew up to her throat as she reached for her necklace, she squeeze the metal in her fist and took a couple of calming breaths as her favourite teacher walked into the classroom. He thought history and he was only 25 years old. He had this kind of hippie yet stylish look, his black curls moved slightly as he moved.

He looked at her for a second, she was a little worried that he might ask some questions but he smiled kindly at her. "Goed om je terug te hebben. (Good to have you back.)" Her friend and nudged her. "Oh! Hij is blij dat je terug bent! (Oh, he is happy to have you back!)" She wriggled her eyebrows seductively. "Stop ermee Davy! (Quite it Davy!)"

The rest of the lesson went the same, every time he looked at them, Davy would make a similar remark. It was like the good old days. Eventually the class was over and they grabbed their books. As they went to the next class the classmates flocked around her.

The situation became very awkward very fast as she waited for them to ask a question. However they seemed to be a little nervouse. "Het is tijd om naar de volgende les te gaan. Komaan. (It is time to for the next class. Come on!)" Her teacher pushed them outside of the class, dispersing the entire class.

Davy and Elizabeth hurried towards chemistry to avoid any question. "Ik ga er niet onderuit geraken denk ik. (I want get out of this will I?)" "Wat bedoel je? (What do you mean?)" " "Ik bedoel, ik zal uiteindelijk wel wat vragen moeten beantwoorden. (I mean, I will probably have to answer some questions.)"

"Ik denk het, maar we kunnen het vermijden voor even als je het wilt. (Probably, but we could avoid it for a little while.)" "Ik weet het niet, misschien moet ik best alles gewoon snel beantwoorden. Dan is het gedaan. (I don't know, maybe I should just get it over and done with. Then it might be over.)"

"Je moet doen wat je denkt wat het beste is. (You should do what you think is best.)" "Ik denk dat dit het beste is. (I think that this is the best option I have.)" "Oke dan, dan weten wat we zullen doen na chemie. (Alright, now we know what we can do during chemistry.)"

The entire chemistry lesson she sat there fidgeting nervously. She wasn't sure what her friends would ask but she knew it wouldn't be all that easy to answer. After 50 minutes of waiting the school bell rang through the building and everyone got ready to leave. They had a 10 min break, which meant she didn't really have a way to 'escape'.

Elizabeth squeezed Davy's hand quickly as her classmates hesitantly moved towards them. She squeezed back. "Uhm, Elizabeth. Zou het oke zijn als we… Mogen we misschien…. (Uhm, Elizabeth. Would it be alright if we… Could we maybe….)" Pieter rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do. "Ja, je mag me vragen stellen als jullie willen. (Yes, you can ask me questions if you want.)" "Zeker? (Are you sure?)" "Heel zeker. (Very sure.)"

For a second everyone was silent till finally Hanne asked the first question. "Klopt het dat je kidnapped was omdat Sherlock een crush heeft op jouw? (Is it true that you were kidnapped because Sherlock has a crush on you?)" The absurdity of the question took her so off guard that she actually laughed. "Oh god neeneenee! Waar heb je dat gehoort! (Oh god nonono! Where did you hear that?)"

"Waarom ben je dan onvoert geweest? (So why were you kidnapped then?)" "Ik was op de verkeerde plaats op de verkeerde moment. (I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.)" Seeing that the answer didn't satisfy her classmates she elaborated. "Moriarty is een soort van aartsvijand van Sherlock en John. Hij 'speelt spelletjes' met hen om hen te manipuleren. Om het interesanter te maken wou hij iemand van buiten binnen brengen. Ik werd gekozen. (Moriarty is like an arch nemesis of John and Sherlock. He likes to 'play games' to manipulate them. To make it more interesting he decided to bring an outsider inside.)"

After that the questions came a lot quicker. They wanted to know where she had been taken to. How the men had been. What Moriarty had wanted with her? When she told them what she had gone through one of the boys went to the bathroom and puked. They were all horrified but also entranced with the pure horror of everything. So it was no surprise for her that they didn't feel like stopping when they had to leave for their next class.

The teacher got pretty pissed when they didn't stop talking during the class and wouldn't sit into their chairs. She tried to tell them to go home but they ignored her. Suddenly he slammed his hand hard onto her table to quiet them all down. The sudden violent outburst caught her of guard and when he rose her voice she flinched horribly.

Davy shot into action immediately to prevent a panic attack by pulling her into a hug. "Je bent oke. Je bent oke. Je bent oke. (You are alright. You are alright. You are alright.)" "Ik weet het. Sorry ik was gewoon geschrokken. (I know. I am sorry, I just got spooked.)" She assured her friend. The teacher was still fuming but he had been surprised by her reaction.

She didn't recognize him and quickly realised it was the intern. Her classmates had started to go back to their seats, mumbling swears underneath their breath. Davy groaned underneath her breath. "God ik haat deze klootzak. (God I hate this bastard.)" "Zo erg kan hij toch niet zijn? (He can't be that bad.)" "Je hebt geen idea. (You have no idea.)"

Turns out Davy was right about Mr. Van de Polle, he was a grade an asshole. He screamed nearly the entire class, even when no one did anything. She noticed the absolute hatred from the students towards him. They did everything they could do to him without actually getting into trouble.

They would answer his questions but they would answer with the most useless and bizarre answers possible. He was their German teacher, they'd answer in a different language or just sprout some math formulas. When he got angry they would complain that they just didn't understand what he was saying.

At the end he got so angry he actually threw his eraser at them. Elizabeth felt slightly uncomfortable seeing as she sat completely at the front of the class, but it was pretty funny. When the class was dismissed she was yet again completely surrounded by her classmates, and several other different people she didn't actually know.

At the end of the 4 period they had an hour and a half of free time which meant she practically had an entire Q and A session. But she did as she promised and answered all the question. It wasn't till she was asked to show them her scars that she refused. She honestly didn't feel like stripping in front of them.

Honestly she started to get really frustrated, all she really wanted was to go hang out with her friends, and she didn't like all the attention she was getting. When the day drew to an end however, the questions started to slow down though.

The next day there were only a couple of questions anymore, and the day after that there were none. The entertainment that was her pain had passed, it wasn't interesting anymore, and she couldn't be more grateful. Things were going quite well until one day.

It was during a German class that she completely lost her shit. She had excused herself several times during the week when everything felt a little too overwhelming and none of the teachers had made a problem out of it, neither had her classmates.

It was during the lesson of Van de Polle made her crazy, he had been screaming at them an entire lesson and had been throwing things at them. Her breathing was becoming irregular and she couldn't focus on anything, she had tried everything. She clutched her necklace and did breathing exercises, her friend tried to help at a certain point even her classmates around her were trying to help.

But it was becoming too much so she gave up, if she wanted to avoid getting a panic attack she had to leave. So as to the agreement she quietly got up and left for the door. She was halfway there when the intern shifted her attention to her. "Wat denk je wel dat je aan het doen bent? (What do you think you are doing?)"

"Uhm… Ik voel me niet zo goed dus ik ga naar buiten. (I don't feel all that well so I am going to go outside.)" If she thought she had seen him angry before she had been wrong. "En jij denkt dat dat zomaar mag! Je moet dat niet vragen ofzo! Je bent hier niet de baas! Dat ben ik! Ga terug zitten! (You think you can just do that! You think you don't have to ask for premision? You aren't the boss here! I am! Sit back down!)"

"Maar ik mag normal gezien… (But normally I am allowed to…)" "Het boeit me niet wat je denkt! Niet omdat jij ontvoert bent geweest en gemartelt bent dat je alles mag! (I don't care what you though! Not because you were kidnapped and tortured that you are allowed to do anything you want!)"

She backed away from him, Davy got up to stop him but she was too late. "De afspraak was toch? (Wasn't that the agreement.)" "Luister hier jij verveelend nest! (Listen here you brat!)" He grabbed her by her shoulder and shook her harshly. "Zit terug neer! (Sit back down!)" The sudden movement send her over her the edge.

She let out a terrified scream and fell onto the ground covering her face with her hands. Elizabeth was rocking back and forth, her breathing was completely out of controle and she couldn't hear anything anyone was saying. It was just a disorientating mumbling. She was vaguely aware of someone saying her name, but it only made everything worse.

When a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders she let out another scream and lashed out, slamming her attacker onto the ground in reflex. More hands pulled her from her attacker and restrained her, but she wouldn't let him hurt her again. "NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE JUST LET ME GO!" Suprisingly he actually listened. In an attempt to get away she crawled underneath the desk of her teacher.

For a second they left her there, quivering underneath the chair of her teacher. None of them knew what to do. Finally it was Mr. Van de Polle who moved, he didn't really seem confused or apologetic but still angry. He got down on his knees and tried to grab her again. "Stop met zo dramatisch te doen en kom van onder mijn bank, for fucks sake! (Stop being so dramatic and come from my bank for fucks sake!)"

She lashed out angrily and kicked him in the face. "What the hell! Klootzak! Fuck! (What the hell! Bitch! Fuck!)" He was bleeding from his nose and fell to the ground. Davy ran passed him and got onto her knees. "Elizabeth. Luister naar mij. Je bent oke, je bent op school. Niemand gaat je pijn doen. Kom alstublieft van onder de bank. (Elizabeth. Listen to me. I am okay, you are at school. No one is going to hurt you. Please get from underneath the bench.)"

When her teacher wanted to try to reach her again the class sprung in action to defend her. They grabbed him by the arm and dragged him backwards. "Laat haar met rust! (Leave her alone!)" She flinched at the scream but slowly but surely Davy managed to get her out from under the bench. She was still shaking slightly but she was starting to calm down again.

Once she could see a bit clearly she noticed something on Davy's neck, a small trickle of blood. "Oh god Davy! Heb ik dat gedaan? (Oh god Davy! Did I do that!)" "Het is niet erg, wees gerust. (It isn't that bad, don't worry.)" "Het spijt mij zo hard! Ik wou je geen pijn doen! (I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!)" "Ik ben oke, belooft! (I am okay, I promise.)" Elizabeth looked around the room carefully, all of the students looked shocked, and some of them looked scared.

Then she noticed the teacher, he looked positively dangerous, the blood running down his face making it even more horrible. He looked like he was going to explode, but before he could Davy took her hand and left for the door. "Wij gaan naar buiten. (We are going outside.)"

* * *

 **Chapter 34**

* * *

The next couple of days started to become slightly better again. Her class let the incident slide, and moved on. After a month without any big problems she decided to take school a step further by participating in P.E. Elizabeth was incredibly nervouse, none of her class mates had actually seen her scars. Only her parents and her best friends had seen it, now everyone was going to see it.

Another thing was that she hadn't really told anyone about her joining the class except her teachers. Her P.E. double hour was the last hour of the Friday so when she came into the class with her P.E. bag they started asking question. She got through the day with little to no problem.

They walked into the dressing room and unpacked her bag. Not really wanting to start with her bag she took of her pants and shoes, a couple of people looked to find something. The only thing on her legs was the burn mark on her thigh which was nearly covered by her underwear. It wasn't cover fully though and someone noticed and nudged her friend.

Elizabeth heard them whisper slightly about what it could be, deciding she didn't want them to just speculate and spread rumours she spoke up. "Dat zijn zijn initialen. (Those are his initials.)" "Wat? (What?)" Asked Jana, a smaller girl from the other class. She was pretty nice but normally incredibly shy.

"Het zijn initialen. Jim Moriarty. Hij heeft dat er in gebrand. (Those are his initials. Jim Moriarty. He had it burned into me.)" "Serius? Wat een psychopaat! (Really? What a psychopath!)" "No shit." She mumbled softly. She pulled her joggings on and tied her shoes.

Her hands were shaking slightly as she pulled up her shirt. This caused a lot bigger reaction, most of them gasped but one of them screamed in shock at the angry scars that littered her back. When she turned around in surprise at the scream someone even fainted at the sight of her stomach. Though slightly fade the white letters were still clearly visible. _Sherlock._

Their P.E. teacher ran into the room without nocking. "Ik hoorde iemand schreeuwen! Wat is er aan de hand! Is er iets gebeurt! (I heard someone scream! What is going on! Did something happen!)" Normally most girls would have let out a little yelp and tried to cover up when their teacher ran in, but now they just stood staring at her.

Not realising what was going on Mr Tealmen ran to help the fainted girl who was waking up again. "Wat is er gebeurt? (What happened)" When no one responded he realised that they were all staring at Elizabeth. She had started to feel rather panicked and didn't know how to react to this.

Mr Tealmen stepped forward hesitantly before stopping himself. He coughed awkwardly as he pulled his eyes from her stomach. "Komaan jullie zijn al laat. (Let get going, you guys are already late.)" He checked on the girl that had fainted one more time before leaving the room.

The silence he left behind before Jana broke it again. "Heeft hij dat allemaal echt gedaan? (Did he really do all of that?)" She nodded slightly, which left all of them in a really awkward situation. I mean, what you say in this situation. The only thing she could do to make it stop was put on her shirt and get out of the room as fast as possible. Strangely enough it worked, once she started to get dressed again the rest of the class snapped out of it and continued as well.

After the class they had to get undressed again. This time none of them reacted as big, she could hear some people gasp again and stare a little but they tried to cover it up again. When she got home her parents interrogated her about what happened and seemed rather angry at the students for reacting in such a way. Elizabeth on the other had was ecstatic, she hadn't had a panic attack, the class was trying its best to stay calm and ignore the scars. She would get through this.

And she was. Everyday started to go better than the next. Her therapist was surprised at her progress but she kept on helping her. John and Sherlock would check on her regularly and gave her advice when she had trouble. They kept her updated on the case of Moriarty, which was the only bad news she got. He had despaired into thin air and they had no way of finding him.

She held onto the thought that Moriarty would keep his promise that he was done with her. As long as she believed that she would be okay. He couldn't touch her hear, he couldn't touch her, he wouldn't.

After several months of rehabilitation she started to feel normal again, her nightmares were nearly gone, she only had panic attacks when someone was violent near her. Elizabeth had started to participate in kickboxing lessons with 5 of her best friends and dyed her hair bright blue. She thought it was rather funny that if she had painted her hair before a lot of people would have shunned her, however now they told her how brave she was for taking life back into her own hands.

How ridicules people were when it came to problems. But that didn't matter now, it was Christmas vacation! She didn't have school, she just had friends and family to worry about for two weeks. She went to a couple of parties with her family and went to the movie with friends.

There was one day she was particularly happy about, she was finally going to be home alone for an entire day again. It was something she enjoyed immensely, the pure freedom of having no one judging and watching her.

That day was today, her parents had taken them to the beach. She had asked to stay home and after a bit of begging they agreed. So now she was sitting in her PJ with a big bowl of spaghetti in front of the television enjoying life to the fullest. Suddenly the phone rang. Sighing she got up, it was probably just her grandmother, she was the only one who still called on the landline.

"Hallo dit is Elizabeth, hoe kan ik jou helpen? (Hello, this is Elizabeth, how can I help you?)" "Hello sweetie." A horrible voice came through the phone, it was a low voice with a horrible cheeriness to it. She nearly dropped the phone when she recognized the voice. "Now don't hang up dearie. It won't end well for anyone."

She shivered and a small sob came from her lips. "No. Please no." "How have you been Elizabeth?" "No, no. You said you would leave me alone!" "Sorry but I am sooooooooo changeable! I suggest you don't hang up. If you do I'll blow everyone up. Understood?" She wanted to hang up and hide underneath the covers till her parents came back home.

She reached for her cell phone but the screen was black and wouldn't turn on again. "Yes, I am sorry buy you won't be able to call anyone." Panic reached a critical point as she ran for the door and swung it open. "Don't. I would really appreciate it if you stay inside." "You… You… You… You can see me?" "Well of course I can dear! It is more fun this way. Now I am going to call someone else as well. You can try to talk but it he won't be able to hear you and it will just annoy me. I don't think you'll like it when I get annoyed."

She let out a tiny gasp and nodded in reflex. "Good girl." He purred. The phone started to ring again as she waited till for someone to pick up. "Baker Street. Who do you need?" Her breath hitched as she recognized Sherlock's bored voice through the phone. "Hello pretty boy!" "Moriarty. What do you want?" Elizabeth knew that this was going to go horribly wrong and started to yell for her neighbours hoping they would react, but she doubted it.

"Well Sherlock I was very bored and I thought you might be able to help me." "Moriarty I am not interested in your games Moriarty." "Yes you are. You would get bored without me. You need a challenge once in a while." Her throat was starting to hurt from all the screaming and no one was reacting. They probably thought that they were playing.

"Well Sherlock, it doesn't really matter what you want. If you don't comply I will blow both of the bombs up." "Both?" "Yes Sherlock both. The one in the car and the other one in the building." Oh god no… She needed to get someone to help her, he was going to blow up the car of her family.

"So Sherlock you get to choose. Either I blow up the car which will kill 4 people, or I blow up The Shard and kill hundreds of people. Your choice." "There is more. Who are the people in the car?" "Aw come on! Can't you guess?" There was a second of silence. "Stay away from her."

"I promise you I won't hurt a single hair on her head." "No I know you won't, but stay away from her family as well." "Well it is a little too late for that." "You said you would leave her alone." "I got bored. Now it is interesting again." "So choose, or I will blow both of them up."

Elizabeth grabbed her phone as tightly as possible. Some part of her knew what he was going to choose, but she just couldn't really believe it. "Moriarty don't do this." "Oh that isn't any fun! Pretty, pretty, pretty please." "I won't make the choice, Moriarty." "Fine, then I'll blow both of them up. Thanks for playing."

"No. Wait." "I knew you were going to play." "Moriarty, please don't do this. I'll do anything." "Really now." For a second she had hope, maybe he could convince her to do something else. "Too bad I don't want you to do anything else. Choose. Now, or I will blow them up."

"Okay blow up the." "No, no, no. Tell me what you want. Tell me who you want to blow up." Elizabeth could hear an anger tremble in Sherlock's voice. "I want you to blow up Elizabeth's family." "NO!" she screamed. "Elizabeth?" the phone cut of as she fell to the ground and dropped the phone.

She grabbed the phone and thought about dialling the police, but what could they really do? Desperately she punched her mother's number, and waited as it rang. "God damn it pick up!" Finally she picked up. "Hey schatje. (Hey darling)" "Mama stop de auto en stap uit! Moriarty heeft er een bom in de auto gestoken. (Mum stop the car en get out! Moriarty put a bomb in the car!)"

"Wat? (What?)" "Nu! (Now!)" Elizabeth could hear her mother talking behind to her family. "Mark stop de auto! Er zit een bom in! (Mark stop the car! There is a bomb!)" "Wat? (What?)" "Een bom! Stop het! (A bomb! Stop it!)" Elizabeth could hear the tires screech loudly as her dad pulled the car over. "Haast je! (Hurry!)" She screamed into the phone.

"Iedereen uit de auto! Snel! (Everyone out of the car! Fast!)": Her mother yelled. The next thing she knew her ears were filled with the sound of screeching metal and the screams of her family. "Mum?!" The sound stopped suddenly as the phone cut off. Her phone slipped from her hand and she dropped onto her knees. This couldn't be happening, she started to shake and her breathing caught in her throat.

She stayed onto the ground and curled up. No this wasn't happening, this was a dream, and this wasn't real. She didn't know how long it was but suddenly her cell phone rang. She could hear it ring but couldn't bring herself to pick it up. It didn't stop ringing, she just wanted it to stop. The longer it kept on ringing the more frustrated she became. Finally she snapped and threw the phone across the room in angry cry.

Pure rage made her go crazy, she stared grabbed her glass from the table and threw it to the ground. It was quickly followed by her cereal bowl, the milk and everything else. All she could think about was the screaming of her mother in her ear and the rest of the family crying in pain the background.

She was vaguely aware of sirens coming closer till it stopped at her front door. Someone knocked on the door. "Dit is de policie. Is hier iemand? (This is the police. Is there someone here?)" She couldn't bring herself to answer, they would be there soon enough. The door was still open so the officer walked in cautiously and looked at her surprise. "Elizabeth?" a female voice spoke softly.

"Is er nog iemand hier? (Is there someone else here?)"This time it was a male, so there were two people here. When she didn't react to them the woman kneeled down next to her as well as she could. She had to be careful seeing as there was broken glass, milk and a lot of other rumble on the ground. "Elizabeth? Kun je me horen? (Elizabeth? Can you hear me?)"

Elizabeth knew she should probably nod but her body wouldn't cooperate, instead she curled up even more. "Heb je je pijn gedaan? Kun je rechtstaan? (Did you hurt yourself? Can you stand up?)" The police officer carefully grabbed her shoulder and turned her over so she had to look at her. "Je bent oke Elizabeth. Je bent veilig. (You are okay Elizabeth. You are safe.)"

"Mijn familie. (My family.)" She managed to whisper. When she didn't react Elizabeth let out another sob. "Nee. (No.)" "Help me haar hier uit te krijgen, anders doet ze zich nog pijn. (Help me get her out of here, she might hurt herself again.)" The woman might have whispered it but that didn't stop her from hearing it.

When the two sets of hands grabbed her to pick her up she tensed up. "Het is oke Elizabeth, we gaan niets laten geburen. (It is okay Elizabeth, we aren't going to let anything happen to you.)"

They managed to lift her up from the rubble and shifted her so that she was curled up in the officer's arm. She carefully shifted Elizabeth so she was as comfortable as possible. Elizabeth was carried into the police car and they drove towards the police station.

They told her that she was in shock but that they would help her through it. Her godparents had been called but one of them hadn't picked up the phone for one reason or another and the other one had been one vacation so it would be difficult for her to get here. They asked her if she wanted to call someone, maybe a friend of family, but she didn't respond to a single question.

When they finally arrived they managed to get her to stand up and helped her walk towards the office. They took her to a private room and wrapped a shock blanket around her. "Elizabeth, wie moeten we bellen. (Elizabeth, who should we call?)" Taking a shaky breath she finally looked up at the woman. "Sherlock." "Wat? (What?)" "Ik wil Sherlock bellen. (I want to call Sherlock.)" "Oke. (Okay)" they handed her a phone, seeing as she thrown it across the room. She had memorised his number and called the detective.

He picked up almost immediately. "Hello? Elizabeth?" "Sherlock." "Oh god! I have been trying to call you. John and I are on the way." "Sherlock." "We will there as soon as possible." "Sherlock." The detective was silent and waited for her. "My family is gone." "Elizabeth." "They are dead. I heard them die, I heard them scream. I heard the bomb go off."

"I am so sorry Elizabeth. I am so sorry I couldn't stop him. I am so sorry I hurt you. I should have done something. I understand if you don't want me to come over." "No. I need you too. I want you too. I. Just. Please come. I don't want to be alone." "Alright. We are coming, we will be here as soon as possible. Is there someone there with you? Friends? Maybe Davy?" "No. I don't want them to get sucked into this. What if he comes after them?" "You shouldn't be alone Elizabeth."

"I am fine. I'll be okay." "Elizabeth, just call someone please." "Just hurry." She hung up the phone and gave it back to the officer. "Hij zal hier snel zijn. (He'll be here soon.)" It would be at least another three hours and a half till they got here. So she was stuck in the police office. They had her fill in all the legal forms and took her statement.

They had a doctor come over to make sure she was fine and hadn't hurt her too bad. She had several cuts and bruises from the shards on the ground, but other than that she was fine. During the entire procedure she asked them about her family and what had happened to them. She knew they had died but she wasn't satisfied with the answers they were giving her, she had to know more.

Eventually they had no choice but to answers her questions.

* * *

 **Chapter 35**

* * *

 **WARNING! Suicide, don't read if easily triggered**

They sat her down and explained to her what had happened. Because she had called her mother and warned them they managed to get off the road, which saved several other people. A couple of other people got hurt but no one else died.

The bomb had been in the bottom of the car and next to the motor which made the blast impossible to survive. Her brother and sister had died the fastest in only a couple of seconds because of the heat. Her parents had died slower, only a couple of seconds but still slower. They had felt more pain, all of them had been in pain. Their bodies had been burned beyond recognition.

Sherlock and John would be here in a half an hour he said. "Ik moet naar het WC. (I need to go to the bathroom.)" She sat down on the bottom of the ground of the bathroom and locked the door. She pulled her legs up to her knees and waited for something to happen.

Her family was gone. Her parents were gone, so was her brother and her sister. Her little innocent sister, she was still so small, she had so much to look forward too. Her little brother, he had been so protective of her and she had let him down. She should have saved them, one way or the other.

And now the people who were going to help her were on their way, but one of them had sentenced them to death. She knew it wasn't his fault, she knew he made the right choice, but he had killed them. Moriarty had the power to kill everyone she cared about in a heartbeat. He would never stop doing it until he had killed them all just for his sick pleasure.

She had no way of saving them, she couldn't protect her family, so she wouldn't be able to save her friends either. Everyone she cared about was in danger because of her, because she was alive. "Elizabeth? Alles oke? (Elizabeth? Everything alright?)" "Jaja. Ik voel me gewoon niet zo goed. (Yeah. I just don't feel all that well.)" She lied.

She looked around the bathroom opening all of the cabinets. There was a lot of toilet paper and cleaning products. Nothing good enough, she wasn't sure if the products would be enough. Elizabeth laid towels on the sink and wrapped her hand in another towel before slamming it into the mirror.

She hesitantly grabbed a shard and pressed it against her forearm. She stopped, it hurt a lot, but she had definitely endured worse. She took a deep breath and bit her lip hard, and started to cut again. She closed her eyes and slit downwards, the blood started to flow faster and the pain was starting to get worse.

When her arm was done she dropped the shard onto the ground, she wasn't sure if she could actually cut the next arm. Her breathing was laboured and her entire body was shaking as she rested her head against the wall.

She didn't know how long it would take but she wished it would go faster, the pain was increasing as the blood stream became stronger. She had to do this. If she didn't do this her friends would get hurt. If she didn't die, everyone would suffer.

"Elizabeth, zeker dat je oke bent? (Elizabeth are you sure that you are okay.)" "Ja, ja. Laat me even alleen. (Yeah. Just leave me alone for a second.)" Her voice was trembling but they seemed to buy it.

Elizabeth started to feel tired and cold, her eyelids were dropping and she couldn't keep her head up. A sudden bang on the door shook her slightly more awake. "Elizabeth!" she recognized the deep British voice. It was Sherlock.

Sherlock's P.O.V.

When he got the call it horrified him. He knew what he would choose and he knew that Moriarty knew that as well. He didn't have a lot of choice, but that didn't make it a lot easier. There was nothing he could do, he couldn't warn anyone let alone call someone to save Elizabeth's family. If he so much as moved the sniper pointed at her chest would have killed him and everyone would have died.

What he hadn't been prepared for was hearing Elizabeth scream at the end of the conversation. Moriarty had made her listen, she had heard everything, and she had heard him telling Moriarty to kill her entire family. The second the phone cut the sniper left and he jumped into action. He called Mycroft who didn't pick up, he was probably busy with something way to important. So he called 112, the Belgium emergency number. "There is a bomb in the car of Mark Van Parijs. You need to track it and get them out."

"Sir, please tell me where you got this information?" "We don't have time for this! My name is Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty has planted a bomb in their car, please you need to get them out of their!" "We have given this information to the police, please stay on the phone with us." "You need to hurry! They don't have that much time!" The woman was about to give ask another question but stopped herself. "What is it?" "I am sorry sir, but we are getting calls that a car has just exploded on the Kortrijkse Steenweg." Sherlock turned off the phone, he was calm for only a couple seconds before cursing loudly. John came running from downstairs where he had been having tea with Mrs Hudson. "What is going on?"

"Get a bag! We are going to Belgium!" "What are you talking about? Did something happen to Elizabeth." "Moriarty killed her family!" "What?" "I'll explain on the way! Just hurry!" Both of them had an emergency bag if they had to leave in a hurry and they were out the door in a second. Sherlock grabbed John by the arm and dragged them into the cab, he called Lestrade who cleared the road for them.

As they sat in the cab Sherlock told John what had happened, John sat there in shock. "Why didn't you get me when he called?" "Snipers." "Snipers?" "He had one pointed at my chest so I wouldn't get help." "And you are sure that it was their car?" "Yes, cars don't randomly explode. I even checked the road it happened on, it was close to her home." "We need to call Elizabeth."

John grabbed his phone and dialled her number, no responds. He tried again and again, even calling her house phone, but that went to voicemail immediately. Once they got to the train station they got onto the first train to Belgium. They would arrive in Belgium within three hours, but that wasn't fast enough, they were worried she might hurt herself. The entire train drive was incredibly terrifying but nervously, all they wanted was to see them again.

The second they got off the train there was a car ready for them to leave. Sherlock silently thanked Lestrade for making sure they didn't have to deal with customs. He was about to try and call Elizabeth again but the phone went off by itself. "It is a Belgium number." Sherlock picked up and John waited as he heard them talking. He noticed Sherlock face dropped and his body language said it all. Sherlock's voice lowered as he spoke softly to her, John knew that he was panicking and placed a hand on his shoulder.

When Elizabeth hung up Sherlock seemed terrified. "Bring us to the police station of Ghent now." "Why is she there?" "I think the police brought her there, she is alone right now. We need to hurry." When the cab driver didn't speed up Sherlock flipped. "Hurry the fuck up! We won't let the police arrest you." He showed the driver Lestrade badge, the man was a little hesitant but finally pressed on the gas pedal and hurried up.

There were still a lot of cars on the road seeing as Lestrade didn't have any really authority here. They finally arrived at the office and they threw down some money and ran inside. They faintly heard the man screaming something about them not paying her with the right money, but they couldn't care less.

As they ran into the police office. "Where is Elizabeth?" the officers were a little taken aback by the sudden intrusion of the two men. They were about to kick them out when one of the officers stopped them. "She is in the bathroom." "What?" "She went to the bathroom." "How long has she been in there." The officer stuttered slightly, not entirely sure how to answer the question. "How long?" "Uhm, I don't know. A little while, she isn't feeling good."

Sherlock and John ran towards the bathroom door full speed and started to slam on the door. "Elizabeth! Open up! Right now! Elizabeth!" Sherlock sounded desperate as no answer came. He took a step backwards and slammed his foot against the door, kicking it open. "Hey! You can't do that!" Sherlock had been planning to run forward to help her but he hadn't been prepared for the sight in front of him.

Elizabeth laid slumped against the bathroom wall in a pool of her own blood. He couldn't move as he saw the little shard of glass in her hand, her breathing was shallow but it was still there. John sprang into action and leapt forward, he applied pressure on her arm. "Call the ambulance! Now!" Sherlock moved forward, pushing on the open wound. "Elizabeth wake up! Open your eyes for me."

He took her pulse, it was slow and barely there but it was still there. She was losing too much blood way too fast. "Does anyone have type O negative blood?" None of them reacted. "Does anyone have type O negative!" "No, no one does." John had grabbed his tie and wrapped it around her arm, cutting of the blood flow. Soon they heard the sound of sirens as the ambulance arrived.

Elizabeth was picked up and helped into the ambulance as they gave her a blood transfusion. An officer offered to drive them to the hospital, as they trailed the ambulance. They sat in the back of the car shaking slightly. "She slit her wrist. She tried to kill herself." "There wasn't anything you could have done to prevent this Sherlock." "I could have made her stay in England where I would have been able to protect her!" Sherlock yelled.

"Stop Sherlock! Don't you dare blame yourself! You couldn't keep her in England! That isn't possible! We got here on time, which is all that matters!" When they arrived at the hospital they waited in the emergency room. There was no one else there for her. They didn't know how to contact her friends or anyone she cared for, when she woke up she would be alone.

The doctors came to tell them that they had been there just in time and she would survive. There wouldn't even be any permanent damage, except for the scar of course. She was still unconscious but she would wake up soon enough. They let them sit at the hospital bed waiting for her, it felt to familiar.

Sherlock reached forwards and grabbed her hand softly, running his fingers over the back of it. "What do we do when she wakes up, John?" "I don't know. I suppose she'll go and live with her guardians." "We can't just let her stay in Belgium. It is too dangerous." "She'll most likely go into protective custody." "You know that that won't be good enough." "We can't just take her away." "I know, but I wish we could."

"Where are they anyway?" "Who?" "The guardians." "I wouldn't know, maybe you should ask the officers." Sherlock nodded and got up to talk to the officers outside of Elizabeth's room. They had been stationed there as a precaution in case Moriarty tried anything again. "Where are her guardians?" "Excuse me?" "Her godparents. Did you manage to contact them?" "Uhm. Her godmother is on her way back from Thailand and her godfather still hasn't answered his phone."

"Is there any way we can call her friends? Do you have her phone?" "It wasn't with any of her belongings." He cursed slightly and went back into the room. "They won't be here for a while." He took her hand again and John placed his hand on top of Sherlock's holding her together. "Whatever happens to her we will stay with her."

Elizabeth's had twitched slightly and they immediately fell silent. The teen groaned and rubbed her head softly. "Elizabeth." She blinked in confusion. "What? Where am I?" "We are at the hospital." For a second she seemed to be disorientated, she didn't seem certain why she would be in a hospital. Once she realised what had happened her hand flew to her arm and let out a broken sob.

"No. No this cannot be happening. Tell me I dreamt it. Tell me this isn't true!" When neither of the man reacted she broke down. "No! Why didn't you just let me die! Why did this happen! Why didn't you just leave me alone! Why did he do this? Why? Why?" Sherlock got up and wrapped her arms around the girl. She let her head fall into his shoulder as she shook. "Don't ever do something like that again Elizabeth. Never."

"My family is gone and now everyone else is in danger. As long as I am alive everyone I care for is a chew toy for Moriarty!" "Don't say that Elizabeth." "It is the truth!" she pushed the detective of her. Everyone I care for is in danger because I am alive! You should have let me die!" He grabbed Elizabeth's face and made her meet his eyes. "Never say that again. Killing yourself won't help anyone. Do you think your parents would have wanted you to die so they could live? Do you think your friends want you to die for them?"

"No but that doesn't matter! Because they are dead!" "It does matter! You dying will not stop anything! If you died it would only hurt them!" "That doesn't matter if that means that they get to stay alive!" "It does! Elizabeth they would blame themselves just like you are doing now!" she whimpered as Sherlock pulled her into another hug. "I just don't want anyone else to get hurt again. I don't want anyone else to die."

"Then don't die." "That might protect them for him." "You would let him win." "I DON'T CARE WHETER HE WINS OR NOT! I JUST WANT EVERYTHING TO GO BACK LIKE IT WAS!" "That doesn't mean you have to kill yourself!" "But I don't want." "Elizabeth please listen to me. If you die nothing will ever be the same again. You dying won't do anyone any good. Your friends will never forgive themselves if you were to die. They would never be able to live their lives the same way again. If you die, we would never be able to forgive ourselves. We need you Elizabeth. We love you."

"But I just, I just want, I just can't." He pulled her in tighter. "Promise me never to do this again. If you ever think about killing yourself again. If you ever feel like you have no other option but to hurt yourself, please just talk to us. Promise me you will always call us if something happens. Promise me." "I don't know if I. I can't." "Please Elizabeth. Please promise me." He ran his fingers through her hair and carefully rocked her back and forward. "Okay. Okay. I promise. I promise."

* * *

 **A/N:** First of all I hope all of you who had exams did well and are now having an amazing vacation. Secondly I'd like to thank you for reading another chapter! I hoped you liked it, please do leave a comment if you do! I really appreciate it a lot! Every single review makes my heart swell!


	12. Chapter 12 - Goodbye

**Chapter 36**

* * *

John got up and walked to the other side of the bed and carefully cupped her face and kissed the blue locks on her head. "We will always be there for you, no matter what happens." They stayed like that for a while, all together holding each other. It wasn't till one of the guards came into the room that they broke apart slightly. "I am sorry to bother you but your godfather just arrived at the hospital. He is just outside."

Sherlock straightened and John sat protectively in front of her. "Yeah, let him in." she whipped the remaining tears from her cheeks and coughed lightly. The officer opened the door further and there her godfather was, he was teary eyed and rushed over to hug her.

The two men stepped backwards to give them space, but she was taken aback by the sudden hug. She didn't actually really know the guy, they had barely even met and now he was hugging her. He hadn't even come to see her when she had been kidnapped. "Oh Elizabeth! Het spijt me zo over wat er met je familie is gebeurt! Ik zou er sneller geweest zijn als ik het had geweten. (Oh Elizabeth! I am so sorry about your family! I would have come sooner if I had known.)"

She hesitantly returned the hug as the man stroked her hair and rocked her back and forth. What was she supposed to do now? "Wie zijn deze twee mannen? (Who are these two men?)" He sounded disapproving. "They are." She wasn't entirely sure what to call them. "They are my friends. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. They helped me when I was in England." The doctor offer her godfather a hand but the man rejected him directly. "Wacht waren zij niet de mannen die ervoor hebben gezorgt dat je ontvoert was? (Wait, aren't those the men that caused you to get kidnapped?)"

Upon hearing the change in tone John sat backwards and glanced nervously at her. "Zij zijn de reden dat je family dood is! (They are the reason your family is dead!)" "Nee! (No!)" "Jawel! Zij zijn de reden dat dit is gebeurt! Het is hun fout! (Yes! They are the reason it happened! It is their fault!)" He jumped up ready to give them all hell but she grabbed him by the shoulder. "Als je zelf maar 1 haar op hun hoofd krenkt! (If you as much as touch a hair on their head.)" She started to threaten him.

"Wat doen ze zelf hier? Ze hebben hier niks te zoeken! (What are they even doing here? They shouldn't be here!)" This crossed the line for her. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! The second they heard the news they came to rescue me! They were all the way in England and they were still an hour earlier then you! How dare you even think about judging them?"

Her godfather took a step back in shock. "I barely know you! Just because my parents used to be friends with you a long time ago it doesn't mean you have any say in my life! I don't care if you are my godfather! I don't care what anyone says! You don't get to talk to them like that!"

John reached over and grabbed her hand squeezing softly. "Elizabeth. It is okay." "No it isn't John! How dare he?! After everything we've gone through! After everything you have done for me! Come in here and accuse you two of hurting me!" "Elizabeth I don't think that is what he means, he's probably just emotional." "Bullshit John!"

Elizabeth was fuming with rage, she just couldn't believe the nerve of some people. "Elizabeth, please calm down." When it didn't look like she was going to back down John continued. "Elizabeth, please listen to me. I know you are emotional right now, I know you are afraid and angry but you need to calm down. Can you do that?" She stared at him, heaving and uncertain. "Okay. Okay. I can calm down." She wrapped her hands around the little key and took several deep breaths.

As Elizabeth concentrated on calming down John turned to the godfather again. His voice was a lot harder than normal. "I didn't catch your name." her godfather did the clever thing this time and took his hands. "Peter Leern." "We understand that you might be upset, but please keep your emotions a little in check. For Elizabeth's sake" "Okay. Okay, fine." He took a couple of seconds to breath. "Alright. So Elizabeth how do you want to do this?" Sherlock frowned. "What do you mean, Mr Leern?" "I'm talking about the fact whether or not you'll be staying with me." He looked at her. "You don't have to answer those questions right now Elizabeth." Sherlock glared at him. "No, it is okay. We need to talk about this eventually but we might as well talk about it right now."

Her godfather placed his hand on her shoulder. "So?" she fidgeted slightly in her hospital bed. "I'm not sure. I mean, I barely know you." "But I am your guardian. You should stay with me." "Why? You never had kids, you don't know the first thing about me. And I don't know anything about you." "Your parents chose me." "My parents chose you 17 years ago, the last time I saw you was 11 years ago. If they thought they were going to die, they would have chosen someone else. Someone they can trust."

"If you become my guardian then so will my godmother. She lives a life of vacations, drinking and doesn't want any kids. I've only seen her during family parties. I would have to live with you two. Your lives would be over." Peter sighed "There are no other options are there?" Sherlock glanced at John and they made eye contact for a little while, the doctor nodded. "She can stay with us." Elizabeth turned in surprise towards Sherlock. "What?" "If you want, John and I wouldn't mind you staying with us."

"You can't do that!" "Yes we can and we are. Elizabeth, we understand that you might not want to do this, but we would like to offer it to you." "You would come to Belgium for me?" Sherlock didn't even hesitate. "Yes, if that is what you would like us to do. We would move to Belgium." "But your consulting career, your doctor career? You can't leave all of that behind." "We will for you."

"I can't allow you to ruin your lives because of me." "Our lives won't be ruined." "What if I come London?" "You can't move! You go to school here! You have a home! You have friends! Your entire life is here." Elizabeth shook her head. "I can't stay in my house anymore. I can't live there, not with all my memories there. And maybe if I leave my friends and my school they will be safe. Maybe he'll leave them alone if I am gone. I can't go back to my old life, not after this. So maybe if I leave it all behind I can do some good."

She looked hopeful at Sherlock. "I don't know Elizabeth. I can't promise you he'll leave them alone. It is possible but I don't know." "That is enough for me. If you'll let me, I'd like to go London with you." "Of course, if that is what you want." "You can't just take her to London!" her godfather stopped them. "I won't let you!" "Why not!" he seemed hesitant to give a reason. "Because I am in charge of you." "No you are not! You are my godfather! That is the only thing you are! You never came to see me! You never came to my birthday! To Christmas! When I was kidnapped! Not once! So you have no authority over me! Only I do!"

"Your parents made me you godfather!" "If you have even a fraction of respect for my parents or me! You will listen to what I want! You'll respect my wishes!" Peter took a step backwards in surprise. "But I can't just let you leave with them. They are strangers." "Not to me they aren't, they are my friends. They saved me and they care for me. They aren't strangers." Sherlock and John turned to him. "We know you feel responsible about Elizabeth, but she is safe in our hands. We will not harm her."

"If, if I let you go with them. How would that work? Where would she stay? Where will she go to school? What do you guys do to provide for her?" "She'll stay in the flat 221C, it is just beneath our flat. We can renovate it into a bedroom, she'll live in the common room but she'll sleep there. There are several amazing high schools around our area. For example, Southbank International School or the King Solomon Academy. I am a consulting detective which earns a decent amount of money, if we ever run dry John is an amazing doctor who can always get a job." He wasn't completely convinced yet. "We are not alone. Mrs Hudson is our landlady, she is incredibly kind and caring and almost always home. She'll take amazing kind of Elizabeth if we aren't home. We will keep you informed if that is what you want."

"Okay. If I consent to this, what about your godmother?" "We'll get her consent too." Elizabeth said with determination. "Plus, Sherlock's brother, Mycroft, will make sure all of the legal forms are in order. Right?" Sherlock nodded. "Okay, in that case I think this might actually the best idea. I'll allow it." "Thank you!' she leapt forward and hugged him sincerely this time. Peter pat her on the back and got up. "I suppose I should leave you guys alone."

He waved awkwardly before stepping out of the room. "Maybe we should find a way to get you out of the hospital. We will find a hotel where we three can stay." "You don't have to. We can stay at my place." The doctor looked concerned. "Are you sure Elizabeth?" "I don't want to have to say goodbye yet. I want to stay with them for a little longer." Sherlock got up. "I'll go find a nurse."

It took them only a couple of minutes before they were out of the hospital and on their way to her home. The police had insisted in coming with them, so they had a police car trailing them. When the taxi stopped in front of her house she couldn't get out of the car. She looked through the window and there it was, her childhood home but it was empty and soul less. Sherlock grabbed her hand and squeezed it, they got out of the car slowly. Once she was out of the car John grabbed her other hand. Together they walked into her house, she pushed the door open seeing as it was unlocked.

They walked in to see that the living room wasn't cleaned at all, there was still glass several other broken parts laying around. She stood there, in the room where she had gotten the news and she suddenly felt so alone. She felt so terribly alone and so broken. This was where her family would eat together, would watch TV together, she used to play with her siblings and talking to her parents. And now they were all gone.

Tears started to run down her cheeks and she started to shake slightly. John let her hand go and pulled her closer to him. John gestured him to join in the hug so he stepped up behind them. Elizabeth stood between the two men and allowed them to hold her as she cried. They stayed like that for a long while. She had been surprised at the sudden flush of emotions that had hit her.

Sherlock and John got down so that her knees wouldn't give out. Finally her crying came to a stop and a sudden wave of tiredness crashed over her. Her eyes started to fall close and Sherlock noticed her sudden difference of behaviour and calmly stroking her hair till her eyes finally fell closed. When her breathing became more regular he picked her up carefully. "Does anyone know where her bedroom is?" everyone shook their head so John went to look for it.

They found three clear children's bedrooms, it was very strange to see the rooms. Knowing that they would never be used again. They decided that the first room they found was of May. The walls were bright orange, and the bed was stacked with stuffed animals. The posters were of several Belgium actors they didn't recognize. The other room was from Luuk. The blue walls were covered with gamer posters, he had a desk with a gamer computer on it. The last room was on the end of the corridor, was green. She had posters of marine animals plastered all over them and a huge book case. This was defiantly her room.

Sherlock laid her down and covered her with a blanket. "I'll stay with her till she wakes up." John nodded, "I'll make sure the mess from downstairs gets cleaned up." Sherlock took of her shoes, jacket and belt before sitting down in the bean chair next to the bed. He watched her sleeping calmly as her chest rose and fell. He wished he could see her this calm when she was awake, a small smile teasing her lips.

* * *

 **Chapter 37**

* * *

Elizabeth had been asleep for a couple of hours and John didn't seem sure what to do. He had cleaned up the mess and checked on Elizabeth several times but he didn't really have anything to do. Sherlock quickly started to get bored too, he didn't want to leave her side, so he just started to read her books. She had a lot of young adult books, from John Green to Jay Asher and Rainbow Rowell, she had all the classic teenage books, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Ranger's Apprentice.

They were interesting but predictable, they were full of dramatic reveals so they kept him mildly entertained. His reading session quickly came to an end when Elizabeth started to whimper and fidget in her bed. He quickly got up and kneeled down next to her bed. "Hey, it is okay. I'm here, I'm here. You are safe." He was careful when it came to touching her, seeing as she could be dreaming about Moriarty.

But she didn't calm down so he careful placed his hand on her shoulder. "Elizabeth. Listen to me. It is just a dream, I'm here. Breath." Her reaction was immediate as she grabbed his arm as tightly as she could. Though surprised by the sudden contact he brought his hand over hers and continued to calm her down. Once her breathing calmed again he went to move away but her grip didn't lessen.

"Stay."

The word was a whisper and he was rather sure that she was still partially asleep, but he complied. There was enough space for him to sit down on the bed next to her, so he laid down backwards. Once he was laid down the girl rolled over and curled up against his side. She was pressed tightly in his side and he wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled up into him.

Elizabeth quickly back into a deeper sleep and he had to admit, the bed was comfortable and warm, he could fall asleep like that. He was tired anyway, for the last couple of days he had been stressing. He allowed himself to become comfortable in the sheets of her bed and the warmth from her body. Eventually he fell asleep.

John wandered around the house a bit more. One agent stayed behind but he stayed stuck behind his computer, the other agents were driving around the block making sure nothing suspicious happened. So none of them were really talking to him, he ended up getting rather hungry. So he started to look into the refrigerator to make something to eat.

There was nothing that could be easily fixed so he ended up having to make some pasta from scratch. He knew he had to make enough for every single one of them, which meant this could take a very long time. But slowly but surely the entire house started to smell delicious of spaghetti sauce. Once he was done he grabbed a pair of plates and a bottle of water before going upstairs. Sherlock had been upstairs for a long time, he had to be tired and hungry.

He hadn't been expecting the sight in front of him, Sherlock and Elizabeth cuddling in the bright green sheets. He placed the plates on the ground and picked up his phone opening the camera and snapping a couple of shots of the two. He had never really seen Sherlock like that, the man was still wearing his woollen coat which was partially draped over Elizabeth. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her and their legs were completely intertwined, her head was resting on his chest, the blue locks were draped over his shoulders.

John sat down with his plate and started to eat his food, it actually turned out pretty well. A sudden groan erupted form the bed and Elizabeth started to steer. He watched her as she realised that she was in the arms of Sherlock. "What the?" "Morning Elizabeth." "John?" "Right here." She started to untangle herself from Sherlock. "I don't know either. I found you two like this. It was pretty adorable."

As she tried to get him to let go of her, she accidently woke him up. Sherlock blinked a couple of times and without meaning too he pulled her in closer. Eventually he actually opened his eyes and noticed that he was holding Elizabeth and quickly let go. "Sorry! I didn't know I was grabbing you!" "No it is okay, it felt pretty nice. … But you can let go now." Sherlock coughed and let her go before hastily getting out of bed.

"I made some spaghetti if you are hungry, but we should go downstairs it will be pretty cold." "You made spaghetti?" John nodded as the two got out of bed. "Would it be okay if I take a shower first?" "Of course! Go ahead." Sherlock and John made their way downstairs as Elizabeth stepped into the bathroom.

The two men sat down in the living room chairs and Sherlock at his entire plate within seconds. "So… Are we parents now?" "I suppose so." "How are we going to do this Sherlock? I mean, neither of us have any experience raising someone." "Well technically we won't really have to raise her anymore, she is 16. She is almost an adult."

"No she isn't Sherlock. You don't magically become an adult when you are 18. She is still a kid, a teenager even. She is hormonal, and has gone through a massive trauma. She is far from an adult." "I guess, but we won't have to change diapers and stuff." "Yeah, but we will have to help her transition. Help her find her way to her future."

"That can't be too hard, can it?" "Don't take this to light Sherlock. We have taken on this huge responsibility and we need to take this seriously." "I will. Of course I will John. Of course I will." "Maybe we should call Mrs Hudson, let her know we will have a third companion staying with us. Maybe we should get someone to clean it up." "Good idea. But we should let them make it into a full room yet." John frowned. "Why?" "It might help her to get to decorate her own room and choose her furniture. So she can make it her own home."

The doctor smiled surprised. "Okay, I'll make the call." As John made the call Sherlock went to get a second portion he was stopped by the officer. "Is it true?" The detective raised an eyebrow. "That you have this special power." "I can deduce things, yes." "Do it." "Excuse me." "Show me. Deduce something." "I am not some kind of puppet." The officer puffed. "I bet you aren't nearly as good as they say." Sherlock let out a low growl and was about to give some kind of stupid retort when he was interrupted. "Is there still some spaghetti over?"

"Yeah, I was just about to get some more." The teenager grabbed herself a plate and filled it up, she sat down at the counter and shuffled the spaghetti into her mouth. "This is surprisingly good." They sat in silence for a little while, eating. "You know, my mum used to make this amazing spaghetti and thought me how to make it. It became a sort of a competition. John wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. Elizabeth suddenly felt a lot less hungry and put the plat away.

He rubbed her arm as she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes were teary but she didn't cry, she only stared at the wall in front of her. After a little while she sniffed and sat up. "Would it be okay if we stayed here till after the funeral?" "Of course! I wouldn't dream of leaving before you got to say your proper goodbye." She nodded absent mildly and got up. She coughed slightly. "Hey do you have any idea where my phone is?" "They said it was with your stuff..." "I'll go and look in my jacket." She walked away, after a little while she found her jacket and pulled it up.

She was surprised at the amount of calls and called Davy back first. "Oh mijn god Elizabeth! Ik was zo ongerust! We hebben allemaal je auto gezien op het niews! Het zag er zo erg uit op tv! Is iedereen oke?" She was surprised how much she needed to hear her friend's voice and broke down. John immediately got up and went to help her, but she shook her head and went up the stairs. Probably towards her bedroom. Between sobs she explained to Davy what had happened. Davy fell completely quiet and she could hear her gasp and eventually even cry. Once she stopped talking them were both crying. "I'm coming over, and I'll get the rest."

"No, you don't have to do that." "I'm not going to let you go through this alone." "I'm not alone." "We are coming over." She couldn't tell them not to come, because she wanted to see them so bad." "Alright." "I'm calling the rest, we will be there as soon as possible." They hung up and Elizabeth sat quietly on the bed when Sherlock came into the room. "You okay? Who was that?" "Davy. She had seen on the TV what had happened, she wants to come over with a couple of other friends."

Elizabeth suddenly realised she hadn't even asked her two guardians if it was okay if they came over. But almost as if he knew what she was thinking about he stopped her. "Don't worry, of course they can come." She smiled thankfully as he got up. "I'll let you be for a second." He cocked his head as if considering something before moving forward and giving her a quick hug."

She curled up into her blankets and waited looked at the pictures on her phone. She didn't have a lot of family photos but the ones she found herself feeling incredibly homesick. Her friends got there within a half an hour which was fairly quickly. She went downstairs and opened the door, her friends were on her within seconds. They wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly.

Davy was the closest to her and she hid her face in Davy's shoulder as the girl pulled her as close to her as possible. She rubbed her back and the rest of her friends joined them. Once she pulled herself free from them they went to her living room and sat down. Sherlock and John got up and walked into the kitchen, keeping an eye on her from afar.

The girls were silent for a little while just sitting together, just the fact that they were pressed against each other. "We can't take this away from her, can we?" John shook his head. "No, we can't. She needs them." Sherlock rubbed his forehead. "We need to talk her out of this, we need to make her stay here." Sherlock glanced at John. "Can you actually do it?"

The doctor frowned. "Can you leave everything behind and come to Belgium. You agreed with it in a rush, but if you want to stay. I'll move by myself." "No. Sherlock. I can do it. I have nothing in London." "That isn't true John. You have Mrs Hudson, Le." "Not if you aren't there either." Sherlock was taken aback by his comment, and looked up at him in surprise. "What?" "You are the reason I know all those people, you are the reason I have a home Sherlock. If you go, I go to."

A tiny smile ghosted on Sherlock's lips as he leaned on the table top. He could hear Elizabeth talking softly with her friends, leaning on them. She was leaning on the shoulders of her friends, they were all touching somehow. As if the physical contact on its own was a conversation, like it was another language. Elizabeth was curled up in the middle of all of her friends, in a bundle of love.

The girls sat there for a couple of hours, they were calmly talking. They were surprised to hear Elizabeth laugh all the sudden at something. There was still something broken in her laugh but it wasn't as bad as before. She turned to them. "Would it be okay if they stayed the night?" "Yeah of course Elizabeth. No problem." They had brought their pyjamas and toothbrush which they all brought upstairs to get her room ready.

The rest of the night the girls spend eating pizza, watching TV and talking. Eventually they fell asleep upstairs. When John went to check on them and smiled at the sight in front of them. They had laid out several matrasses next to her bed and a mountain of cushions and blankets. Instead of sleeping on their own matrasses they were all bundled together and curled up in the blankets. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of the sleeping girls.

* * *

 **Chapter 38**

* * *

After breakfast the girls went back home. They had been fairly surprised to see that Sherlock had cooked them something for breakfast. The police officer had left them late at night so he had had the entire night to do what he wanted. Seeing as he hadn't been able to sleep he figured he might as well cook up some breakfast. There were pancakes and an omelette, orange juice and chocolate milk.

The girls wolfed down the food with enthusiasm as John grumbled that Sherlock never cooked anything like this for them. When they left she hugged them tightly and waved them off. Several of the parents came in and took Sherlock and John apart. "Listen, we realise you mean the best for that girl. But we have known her for several years and we have decided that all of us are willing to take her in if she wants us too."

This took the two gentlemen by surprise. "You would do that…" John asked. "Of course! You've only known her for a couple of months, we for years. Our daughters love her the way they might love their sister. We would take her in, but only if she wants it. We just want her to have that possibility, so she can stay in Belgium." "We were planning to offer her that too." The parents smiled at them and shook their hand. "But if she gets hurt under your care we will find you."

Sherlock took a step backwards, he was surprised at the sincerity of the threat. They were still laughing at them but she could see the coldness in their eyes. "Just let her know all the possibilities." They walked away and left the three of them alone in the house. Elizabeth stayed in the doorway and waved at them, when the last car disappeared she stayed outside on the porch.

Sherlock looked questionably at John not sure what to do, she wasn't wearing shoes and they weren't sure if she would go back inside by herself. John carefully wrapped his arm around the young girls shoulder and steered her away from the door setting her down on the couch. "Listen Elizabeth. Your friend's parents told us something." The teen cocked her head. "They offered to take you in." "What?" Sherlock nodded. "They told us that if you wanted to, you are allowed to stay in Belgium with them. You could stay with your friends and keep on going to your same school."

"What that can't be right. I mean, why would they?" "Because you have amazing friends who are willing to do anything for you. Speaking of that. We think you should stay in Belgium too. Either with your friends or with us. Anywhere you want." "That is a lot to take in. I mean I don't really know what to do. I don't know what to choose." "You have time to choose. There is no hurry." She nodded and left to get dressed.

Elizabeth spend a lot of more time in her room, reading, watching TV and writing a bit. Sherlock got very agitated very quickly, he didn't have any cases here and there was only so much he could do from afar. He was having a hard time not grabbing a smoke or something worse. But it was becoming increasingly hard for him. One day Elizabeth sat down in front of the TV and she could hear Sherlock fidgeting behind her.

"What's going on?" "Nothing." "I don't need to be a consulting detective to know that that is a lie." "I am just a little. I am a tiny bit." "Bored." "No, I mean. Yes okay I am bored." She smiled a little. "Sit with me." "What?" "Sit with me." With a huff the detective dropped himself into the sofa next to her. "Now what." "Watch this with me." "What is that?" "You live in England but don't know Doctor Who?" "Should I?" "Yes you should! It is amazing! Watch this and try to figure out what is going on." "Can't be too hard." She chuckled.

They were watching ' _Midnight'_ and Sherlock quickly got caught up with everything that was happening. They watched episode after episode and quickly the detective got obsessed with all of it. When John got back from getting groceries he found the two of them next to each other watching the show. "What is going on?" "Sherlock was bored. I fixed the problem." John frowned at the man.

"I thought you didn't like TV?" "This is different. This is something very different. This is a completely fictional and impossible universe. The rules are different so this makes everything." "TV series are easy to become addicted to. So if you get the right series for the right person they can get addicted. 40 minutes of impossible cases." The teen winked at him and helped him get food. "You know that tomorrow is."

Elizabeth tensed. "Of course I do." "Do you want us to come with you?" she swallowed hard. "Yes." The funeral was tomorrow and it terrified her. It had only been a week or so since her family's loss but she avoided thinking about it as much as possible, but this would make it real.

That night she couldn't sleep, the knot in her stomach would go away and her throat felt raw. She could hear the faint sound of the TV playing downstairs as Sherlock continued to binge Doctor Who. She felt guilty for pulling the two men out of their environment, surely she couldn't stay with them. Their entire life would be uprooted. To be fair she kind of wished she could stay in Belgium. She didn't want to leave her friends.

Elizabeth rubbed her hands through her hair in frustration and sat up. Before she realised what she was doing she went downstairs and sat down next to Sherlock in the chair. He blinked in surprise and his eyes ran over her. Without saying a word he pulled up his blanket and motioned at her to join him. She curled up to his side and watch the show with him. Sherlock carefully placed his arm around her shoulder and glanced at her from time to time. As if to make sure she was alright.

After a couple of episodes she felt herself drift of and fell asleep. It felt strangely safe in the arms of the detective, and all her stress rolled of her with ease. Sherlock must have fallen asleep as well because she woke up to the sound of the Doctor yelling and the smell of bacon as John prepared breakfast. The detective had woken before her and his hand ran through her hair carefully. They had moved in their sleep and she was asleep with her head on his lap.

His long finger through her hair made her shiver slightly and she sat up. "Morning." she mumbled. For a second she saw something very soft and tender in Sherlock face before he chased it off with an amused expression. "Good morning, sleepy head." She yawned and looked at the clock, a shard of horror ran through her heart. In two hours the funeral would start. Noticing the change in her behaviour John got up to help her, but she waved him away.

"I'll go get ready." "You need to eat." "I'm not hungry." She hurried upstairs to take a shower. The warm water ran down her back as she pressed her face against the wall. Tears were mingling with the water as she hugged herself. She wouldn't be able to do this. She couldn't say goodbye to them. They had postponed the funeral so the police could sort through the evidence and now it was time.

It wasn't till the water had gotten icy cold that she pulled herself out the shower. A black dress lay out on her bed. She remember their vacation to America, her father had told her it was custom for every woman to have a little black dress. How woman like Coco Channel and Edith Piaf had given women the right to wear such an attire and not have it associated with grief. Her mother had helped her pick out that dress and even her brother said that she looked nice in it.

Everything in this house had memories hung to it. She remembered when she had been told to pick clothes for her family to wear. She hadn't been able to choose so Sherlock had opted to choose. To her surprise he had picked out the clothes her parents like to wear most. Not the fanciest things, but the once they cherished most. Thought that shouldn't have surprised her really, not with his deduction abilities.

For her sister May he had picked her long white dress, it came to the floor and had little butterfly figures on it. When she danced to her music the dress would always fly around her making her feel like a princess she would say. He had also picked a small necklace with a black stone in it. She had gotten it for her last birthday and she always said she would wear it for the most important moments.

His brother wore something a lot less chic but just as perfect. He had chosen a simple pair of loss joggings he always wore. He claimed those were the most comfortable pants in the history of ever. With it he had taken his Cornell cap and a black shirt with an assassin creed jacket. When he wore this it looked pretty cool.

For her dad they had grabbed his navy blue suit. It was an incredibly comfortable one which looked amazing on him. They had always thought that he looked incredibly handsome when he wore it. They gave him the nerdy tie he used to wear, it had the Star Trek emblem printed on it. He wore it into work and waited to see how long it took his co-workers to figure it out. He loved to see the curiosity dance on their faces.

For her mother they had picked a bright blue sleeveless dress. It looked like water run down her body with the grace of queen. Whenever she walked into the room wearing that people always looked. It had been a present from her father for their 10th wedding year. With it he had bought her an engagement ring. She had insisted that she didn't need one but he saw now that she kind of regretted that decision. The ring was a silver band with a blue crystal on it. She said it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

In fact most of the choices for the funeral had been made by Sherlock and John. The only thing she had insisted on was that they got cremated. That was the wish from her parents to, none of them would ever want to be buried underneath the cold ground.

Once she was fully dressed she walked down the stairs to the living room, once she reached the bottom both Sherlock and John stood there. Waiting for her. Both of them were dressed in elegant black suits, she was surprised to see how much they had cleaned up. She quickly reached for the little key hanging around her neck and squeezed it before taking the doctor's outstretched hand.

She must have been hurting him, seeing how hard she was squeezing his fingers, but she couldn't find it in herself to let him go. She needed to hold on. The two men had gotten her a cab and helped her in. Her heart was beating irrationally fast as the car took off from her porch. They reached the crematorium within a couple of minutes. They would have the ceremony in the garden and then the coffins would all be burned.

The giant building loomed up before them and they saw the cars of their family and friends. She hesitantly came out of the car and grabbed Johns hand tightly, he squeezed back softly. Sherlock placed a hand on her shoulder and they moved through the ails of chairs and sat at the front. She was surprised to see how many people had shown up.

The friends of the family, Mays friends, Luuks friends, teachers, far of family, people she hadn't seen for ages and even her friends had shown up with their families. All in all the ceremony was a big one. They had hired a speaker who read poetry for every family member before some people went to the platform and gave their speech.

First her mother:

 _I see trees of green, red roses too  
I see them bloom for me and you  
And I think to myself what a wonderful world._

 _I see skies of blue and clouds of white_  
 _The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night_  
 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world._

 _The colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky_  
 _Are also on the faces of people going by_  
 _I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do_  
 _But they're really saying I love you._

 _I hear babies cry, and I watched them grow_  
 _They'll learn much more than I'll ever know_  
 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world._  
 _Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world._

 _-What a wonderful world by Louis Armstrong_

Her mother's favourite song and the one she and her father had danced on during their wedding. People would tease them by playing it at random parties, they had vowed to always to dance to it. A part of her hoped that her mother would get up and dance to the song, but she knew it was stupid. Still a part of her heart broke when she stayed still as the familiar song played through the church.

Her mother's friends got up and told them about her. They talked about what I wild spirit her mother had been and how much she had loved her family. How she would always get into trouble when she was young and how she kept that vibe around her when she got married. A small chuckle ran through the church at some of the stories as people remembered everything. Her heart swelled with pride knowing how many hearts her mother had touched.

Then her father:

 _Let me not to the marriage of true minds  
Admit impediments. Love is not love  
Which alters when it alteration finds,  
Or bends with the remover to remove:  
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,  
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;  
It is the star to every wandering bark,  
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.  
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks  
Within his bending sickle's compass come;  
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,  
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.  
If this be error and upon me proved,  
I never writ, nor no man ever loved._

 _-Shakespeare Sonnet 116_

His love for Shakespeare had been a famously annoying one. He would often recite the bard and give them anecdotes about him. Elizabeth had fallen in love with the stories and could herself recite entire sonnets of the man. It was only appropriate for them to pick his favourite one.

Her dad didn't really have that much friends. He had always been quite and hardworking, but the friends he did have were incredible. There were men and women from Canada, India and Japan who flew over for the funeral. She didn't know them personally but her father had spoken highly of them, so she was happy to see them. It was clear that they cared a lot about him as they told stories about her father.

She found out about little adventures she hadn't ever really known and the love for her father filled the room. Tears were running down her cheeks softly as she looked at the people who held him dear, a small smile was toying at her lips when she realised he had had a good life full of love. Especially when the gentleman from Japan told them with a thick accent how much her father would talk about his family and how much he had loved them.

Her brother:

 _And be a simple kind of man.  
Be something you love and understand.  
Baby, be a simple kind of man.  
Oh won't you do this for me son,  
If you can?_

 _Boy, don't you worry._  
 _You'll find yourself._  
 _Follow your heart,_  
 _And nothing else._  
 _You can do this,_  
 _If you try._  
 _All that I want for you my son,_  
 _Is to be satisfied._

 _-Simple man by Lynyrd Skynyrd_

She smiled at the familiar words of the song. It was something her mother used to sing to him when he was just a baby and it had become one of his favourite songs, though he only admitted it to her. Whenever he was stressed she would hear him hum the song to himself to calm him down. She had grown to love it as well.

Several boys of his age came up to his coffin and told them about her brother. She recognized them, they used to be careless and happy but there was so much sorrow in their eyes now. She realised Moriarty had destroyed part of their lives too as they talked about their friend. The mishaps that they did at school and the way he would always take controle during video games. They laughed about the fact that even though they would sometimes argue that he wasn't the boss that he was a great theme captain.

And finally her sister:

 _Summertime, and the livin' is easy  
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high  
Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin'  
So hush little baby, Don't you cry_

 _One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing_  
 _And you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky_  
 _But 'til that morning, there ain't nothin' can harm you_  
 _With Daddy and Mammy standin' by_

 _-Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald_

This song made her chock back tears as memories flooded her. This was their bed time song, the one her mother and father would sing to all three of them when they were small. It was the song her sister would always sing when she was doing something absent mildly. It was her song. One she would never forget, one that was imbedded into her soul.

Mays friends were young, as young as she was. And they were all crying as they talked about her. They talked about games they used to play and the music they used to sing to. In fact all of the girls sang for May, not really knowing what else to do. They sang _If I die young_ but they couldn't get through the entire song without breaking down.

Now it was her turn. Her turn to say goodbye.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked this part of the story. I'll be getting to more exciting parts of the story soon but the appropriate amount of angst needs to be in the story first. I mean the girl lost her family, not gone gloss over that.

Love you!


	13. Chapter 13 - A new beginning

**Chapter 39**

* * *

Elizabeth stood up and walked forward till she stood in front of the coffins. She looked around at the crowd that had gather for her family. She saw the pity in their eyes as they looked at the lone girl standing in front of her family's dead bodies. Her eyes found Davys and she took a deep breath before starting. She had rehearsed the entire thing but it was hard to keep to a script when you were saying goodbye to someone you loved.

"My family." She swallowed hard. "My family has always been there for me. They have always loved me and I have always loved them that is just how family works. Sure we sometimes fought and argued but they always got resolved rather fast. We could stay angry at each other.

Even though my mother didn't always know what she should say or how she should react when I didn't feel good. She would always try her best to comfort me. I knew I could always find someone who cared for me with her, she was always there for me. I assume most of you know that my way of interacting with my mother might have been seen as strange sometimes, I mean we would often insult each other as a way of saying I Love You.

It was just the way we communicated. But every morning I would hug her before I left for school and I always knew she'd be there for me when I got home. She was a constants in my life. And she is. She was the person that made me go and look for adventure and she is the reason I want to travel the world. I might have never told her that, but I sometimes wish I could be more like her.

My dad was the complete opposite from my mother. He was a calming presents that would always judge things objectively, he'd help me put things in perspective when I needed it most. He is also the one who never doubted me, he never stopped believing in me.

He is also the reason I love to read, write and watch TV. I love everything imaginary, when I hated books he bought me the first Harry Potter and I fell in love with it. He, without even knowing it, gave me something to hold on when I get to overwhelmed. He figured out what I liked and stopped other people from forcing me into something I didn't like. He was a protector and I wouldn't have traded him for anything in the world.

The relationship I had with my brother was an amazing one. Ever since we were young we'd play together and go on magical adventures with me. Now we rarely talk because we both have a lot going on, but during vacations when we are stuck together, those old bonds just grow stronger again. I can't imagine having a childhood without him. We definitely didn't see eye to eye all the time, I mean we fought sometimes like cat and dogs. In the end however we always made up with a simple joke and gesture. I wish I told him I loved him more.

Finally my sister. My sister and I weren't the best of friends, we fought a lot. But I never stopped loving her and I don't think she ever stopped loving me either. She was my baby girl who always knew how to brighten up the day and the world around her. Her heart was pure and so innocent and I know she was happy till the very last moment. I know that where ever she has end up now she'll be happy."

Tears were rolling freely down her cheeks as she struggled with finding the right words. She was shivering as she turned around and looked at the open coffins. She shut her eyes before she could see them and her breathing was trembling. Finally she open her eyes and let out a pained gasp. They looked so. They looked so. So very peaceful. She knew they must have been horribly ignored during the explosion and was surprised how normal they looked. She could see the faint chord of where they'd been stitched together even through the layers of make-up. Her fingers ghosted over her brother's cheek as if to touch him one last time. But she didn't want to feel the cold skin onder neat her fingertips. She wanted her brother to playfully slap her hand away and insult her.

Slowly she pulled her hand away and whispered. "Goodbye." Her voice cracked and her shoulder hunched forward, they were gone. They were never going to get them back. Elizabeth managed to walk back to the two men and dropped herself in the chair before hiding her face in Sherlock's chest and crying softly. She didn't understand what the speaker as Sherlock wrapped his arms around her.

Finally she felt herself being pulled to her feet. "Elizabeth. We're going inside. Are you sure you want to see this." The teen nodded and straightened herself. The four coffins were picked up and the crowed followed them inside, where they were placed inside a huge glass furnace. She took four flowers that had been laid out for her and placed them one by one on the coffins.

They were beautiful sunflowers from the garden. "I love you." She whispered before taking a step backwards. Her friends had moved to stand with Sherlock and John. Davy grabbed her hand and they watched as fire flared up and the coffins were turned to ashes. A sob broke out from her lips as the flames licked at the coffin and the ash blew across the furnace. They closed it so no one could see the actual burning bodies so she turned around and hugged Davy tightly.

People started to leave the room but she stayed there with her friends around her and Sherlock and John looming in the background like two guardians. She was surprised though when the parents of her friends went to talk to them. "Did you tell her our offer?" she could hear them and she raised her head to follow the conversation. John nodded. "She hasn't made a decision yet." "Actually I think I have." She pulled herself free from Davy and turned to the adults.

"I am impossibly thankful for the offer but I am afraid I can't take it. I think it would be best for everyone if I go to England with them." John seemed surprised by her decision, in fact all of them were, except for maybe Sherlock. At first I was planning to stay with you, to stay in Belgium with my friends and stay in the same school. But now. Now that I have seen this. All of the grieve that followed the death of my family. The pain it caused. Not just to me, but to everyone here. I can't allow that to happen."

"What are you talking about?" "There is no way of knowing if Moriarty won't try to hurt someone I love again. I could never forgive myself if I didn't do everything I could to stop him. Even if that means leaving everything behind." "Zoetje. (Sweetheart.)" It surprised her when Davy's mother wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug. "I understand your decision but if you ever change your mind, we will always be there for you."

She hugged the woman back before turning back to the two men. "I hope your offer still stands." Sherlock smiled kindly. "Always." "Elizabeth?" "Uh." She turned back to Davy. "You aren't just going to disappear are you?" "Of course not! We'll meet up again before I go and we'll stay in touch. I just can't be here now." her friend gave her a finale hug before they too left, leaving the three of them alone. A man came forward with something that looked like a vase.

A crop formed in her throat as she took the ashes from the man. "Thank you." He merely nodded and left them alone. Sherlock placed a hand on her shoulder and together they walked out of the room towards the car that was waiting for them. They would go to the lawyer from her parents now, to get this over with. The men had offered to go for her, but she had to be there.

They sat down in a hug sofa and a young woman came in. "Hello. I am Mrs Layson. How are you?" Elizabeth let out a fruitless laugh and Sherlock merely cocked his eyebrow. "Wrong question. So your parents will. Let me make it as simple as possible. Your parents left you almost everything." "Almost." The teen nodded. "They left some of it too charity, right?" the woman nodded. "75% of the money was for you and your siblings, 25% for several different charities. Seeing as you are alone now all of the money goes to you. The insurance money of the car and your father will go to you too. The house is yours too and you can choose what to do with it and everything in it."

The woman smiled kindly at Elizabeth. "We will just have to make a list of everything first, and discuss what you want to do with everything." "Okay. Okay. Normally I'll be selling most of it." The lawyer seemed taken aback by her reaction. "Are you sure. We don't need to rush anything." "No I am sure I won't be staying here and keeping the house won't make it easier. Plus I can't take all of the furniture with me."

"Alright. If you are sure of this, we can make arrangements." "Thank you, the sooner the better. How about tomorrow?" "Mrs Van Parijs. We need to take our time with this." "No I want to get this over with. If it is possible I'll see you tomorrow at 14:00." "Okay, yeah I have free time. I'll have someone come over." They shook hands and walked out of the room.

"You played it pretty hard. Are you sure you want to get this over with so soon?" Sherlock placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Yes. I don't won't to stretch this out any longer than necessary." The rest of the day the young girl stayed up in her room.

It wasn't till the next day that she came down to speak with the agent who catalogued everything in the house. He would have to come back the next day to finish it all but it was pretty easy to figure out. Within a couple of days everything was sorted out.

The next morning when Elizabeth came downstairs Sherlock and John were already eating breakfast. "Morning Elizabeth. Had a good night?" she nodded absent mildly. Yesterday they had finished up everything and she had nothing holding her back to go to England. She could feel the eagerness of the two men to go back to their homes, and she understood. "I think I am ready."

"For what?" "I am ready to leave. I think I would like to leave as soon as possible." "If you are sure." "I am." John smiled kindly at her and squeezed her hand. "Okay. We will make preparations. We can leave today." The teen swallowed hard. "Alright, let me know when we can leave."

She hurried upstairs and packed the last things, she didn't to really pack a lot more things. She already had all her clothes ready to go, all she needed to pack more was her computer and a couple other trinkets. She had already send the books to England and didn't need anything else. John came to tell her that they would leave in two hours and she texted her friends to meet her at the house in an hour and a half.

They text her not to go yet, to stay. To stay with one of them. Not to leave just yet. But she answered none of them. Her friends finally arrived, most of them an hour early and tried to talk her out of it. She told them why she had to leave but they wouldn't hear it, but eventually they just gave up and said there goodbyes.

When she was alone in the car her heart felt heavy, she laid her head on Johns shoulder as the car drove away from her childhood home, never to return.

* * *

 **Chapter 40**

* * *

She spend of the journey to her new home readying, it was the only way she could stay calm. She did finally have to put her book away as they step out of the cab and stood in front of 221B Baker Street. "Does the key actually work?" "Of course it does." John smiled. "But we will give you another key none the less." "Can I?" "Go right ahead. It is your home now too."

She put the little key into the lock and twisted it, and the door popped open. She walked over the threshold. To her surprise she was almost immediately engulfed in a hug. The girl gasped and for a second panic seized her, but Sherlock's voice grounded her. "Mrs Hudson. I do believe you are choking our new house guest. "Oh sorry dear. I am just so happy to have such a lovely lady staying with us. The boys have been talking a lot about you."

She blushed slightly, but smiled kindly at the elderly woman. "Hello. Thank you for allowing me to stay here." "Of course sweetheart! I think you might be good for these two." "We will be showing her to her room now Mrs Hudson. A cup of tea would be nice." "I am not your house lady but I'll do it this once for her." the woman huffed kindly before leaving them alone in the hall.

Sherlock and John grabbed her bag and brought her downstairs to a tidy room. There was a bookcase, a closet and a bed but that was about it. "It isn't much now, but we though you might like to make it yours. Paint it. And choose the furniture." "Thank you, this means a lot to me."

Over the next couple of days they decorated her rooms. They painted the room a soft shade of grey and bought a couple of things from ikea. It was surprising that the two men weren't better at assembling ikea furniture. Reading the instructions wasn't all that hard, but in the end they managed to finish it all. It only took them three tries to put the desk together.

After a couple of weeks she went to her first classes. They all knew who she was, they all knew what had happened to her and at first they were extremely interested in everything. Luckily they quickly got bored and she could resume with a normal pace, even making a couple of friends.

Things quickly fell into a rhythm. They woke up early in the morning and ate breakfast, they all ate at different times. John extremely early so he could go to the hospital, then she so she'd get to school and eventually Sherlock. But dinner they started to eat together. Normally the men didn't cook but she liked doing it and started to make meals. And eventually they ate together.

Sometimes she was allowed to sit in with Sherlock as he interviewed people during the weekends. She quickly became accustomed with certain guest and often had to entertain them when Sherlock hadn't arrived yet. She didn't mind Lestrade, Molly or several other officers but one the rare occasions that Anderson showed his face, or even worse Donavan, she'd get pissed.

They were rude and horrible assholes who would crawl to Sherlock for help but belittle him when he gave it. Sure, Sherlock could be a cock from time to time but that didn't mean you had to be one too. Things had been rather normal for a couple of weeks when her phone rang. A Belgium number she didn't recognize.

When she picked up she was surprised to find it was a traveling agency. "Goeie morgen Mevr De Loose. Wij wouden weten of u de reis naar Peru zou willen annuleren. (Good morning misses De Lose. We would like to know if you would like to annihilate your trip to Peru.)"

"Sorry?" "Wel uw ouders hadden de reis al volledig betaalt en we vroegen ons af of u graag de reis wou afzeggen. Vanwegen de omstandigheden zouden we u een volledige refund geven. (Your parents had already paid for the entire journey and we were wondering if you'd like to cancel. Seeing the circumstances we would give you a full refund.)"

She couldn't help but hesitate for a little while, unassured what to do. She had known that they were going to go to Peru, but she hadn't thought about it since her family had died. "Everything okay Elizabeth?" "Uhm, een secondje aub. (Uhm, just a moment please.)" She turned her attention to Sherlock. "It's a traveling agency, don't worry about it." "Why are they calling you?" "Uhm. My parents organized this family holiday to Peru. I'm just going to cancel it."

"You don't have to." She turned to John, raising an eyebrow. She had picked that habit up from Sherlock. "Maybe it would be good for you. For us to go out for once." "This isn't just going out. This is a two week trip to another continent." "I know, but maybe it would be a good thing." The teen turned to Sherlock with a questioning glance. The detective seemed to be considering the options too.

"I think. I think John might just be right. It would do us good to go to … Peru." She hesitated for a little while before smiling slightly. "Uhm. Ik ga de reis niet annuleren. Zou het mogelijk zijn om de reis om te zitten naar 3 personen in de plaats van 5? (Uhm. I don't think I'll cancel the trip. Would it be possible to change the trip for 3 people instead of 5?)"

The woman on the other end seemed to hesitate for a little while. "Dat zou moeten lukken. (That should be possible.)" They spend the next couple of minutes discussing some details and Elizabeth got more and more excited by the second. The idea of traveling with the two men was nearly irresistible, let alone to Peru! She had the program shaken up a bit, more excitement, less churches.

The trip wouldn't be until another couple of months, but she already wanted to pack her stuff and leave. But for now she'd have to stay content with school and books. She had a lot of material to catch up on, and she frequently missed classes when she had a bad day. On those days she'd lock herself up in her room for several hours and stay hidden. She would come out for dinner or to talk to Sherlock or John. They had quickly become to accept that.

The only thing they expected from her before they let her grieve on her own was that she remember the promise she had made them in the hospital. So far she had managed to do so, though she had started to self-harm, not regularly but from time to time. Sherlock would know before she even left her room, and would sit on the other side of the door till she came out. They would sit together on the floor with their backs against the door. Sherlock would bandage her wrist and trace the already exiting scars.

They wouldn't say a word as she laid her head on his shoulder, using his presence to ground her. John came to help her when she had nightmares, when she woke up drenched in sweat, shivering. That is when her doors would crack open and John would lie down next to her in the bed and hold her softly.

She would curl up into his side till she woke up the next morning. He would run his hand through her hair or rub her back, sometimes when the nightmares were very bad he would whisper softly to her. Often it would be stories that she wouldn't remember the next morning. It wasn't the story that helped but the calming words that she could hold on to, that she could listen too. It were in those moments that she remembered why she had decided to stay with them.

One afternoon, they had nothing to do. It was a long weekend so she had an extra day off, with nothing to do. Sherlock was practically bouncing on his chair in frustration, there hadn't been a single good case in a week and he was going crazy. She had even felt nervouse that he might start using, like he used to. It was clear that John was starting to get frustrated too. Whether it was with Sherlock's behaviour or the fact he didn't have anything to do.

Even though he had his own doctors practice, it was mostly Sherlock cases that interested him. The tension was growing by the second and John finally had enough. "Okay. I have had it. We are going out!" Sherlock groaned. "Where to John! There is nothing interesting anywhere! It is like the world has fallen silent!" "I don't know. Somewhere fun."

"Fun? Fun? Fun! What is fun John? Go for a picnic? Shopping spree? A trip to the beach? A bus tour of London?!" He was a throwing a little fit. "You know what Sherlock. Yes, why not?" "A bus tour!?" "The beach you twat!" "I was being sarcastic." "Well I don't care. Get your swimming trunk and towel. We'll leave in 15 minutes!"

"But." "Not buts. You too Elizabeth! Get your stuff." For a second Elizabeth was surprised. This was the third sudden decision John had made. First adopting her, then their trip to Peru and all the sudden they were going to the beach. It wasn't as big a decision as the other two, but it had come out of now where and he had made it for the three of them.

So she did as she was told, grabbing her bathing suit, towel and book. As he had promised within 15 minutes they were in a cab on their way to the beach. It wasn't really that warm so they might not even swim, but even a walk on the beach might do them some good. Sherlock was moping slightly in the corner of the cab but John took no heed. He reacted to Sherlock the way you might react to a stubborn child.

Once they finally arrived Elizabeth was quite happy to see that the beach was mostly deserted leaving just the three of them with a couple of other tourist. They had arrived in Botany Bay, Kent. A beautiful seaside with large white cliffs coming out of the sea. It was notably warmer on this side of the country, she might even consider going for a dip.

She looped her arm into Johns and they started on their way down the cliffs till they reached the water's edge. After a little while Sherlock started to walk next to them and actually started to make conversation. Facts about the sea and it's in habitants, slowly becoming part of their little group, stopping his bratty behaviour.

Elizabeth took of her shoes and waded into the water, it was cold but alluring. She hadn't gone swimming in so long. They continued for a little while longer till they reached a sandy beach. They splayed their towels onto the ground, the wind blew the sand up into the air. She quickly changed into her swimming gear behind a couple of rocks before heading for the water.

It they hadn't been alone like this she wouldn't have even thought about doing this. Though the scars weren't angry red anymore and some of them had even faded they were still scars. Long white strips that ran down the entirety of her back, a prominent burn on her hip. _**JM**_ The reddish letters sprawled on her stomach _**SHERLOCK,**_ the smaller less visible self-harm scars that ran across the wrist, the rough skin around her neck from the collar and the tiny scars where the surgery on her hands had been stitched.

But the two men had seen these scars come into existence so she felt comfortable having them in the open with them. John and Sherlock sat on the towels with books, but those lay open on the ground as they spoke. She walked into the waves, the water slamming into her knees, her hips, her shoulders till she couldn't really stand anymore. She dived underneath the water and started to swim in the sea water. She watched the two men talking from a distance and smiled. They looked pretty content underneath those large white rocks in the golden sand.

She continued to swim down the length of the beach when she noticed a man. Though he was at a distance the man looked haggard and instable. He was an older man wearing an overcoat, a pair of shorts and one shoe. She was worried and swam a little closer when he suddenly collapsed onto the sand. She swam to the shore and hurried over to help him, to make sure he wasn't hurt. Once she stood over him her heart froze, the man lay twitching on the sand.

She dropped on her knees. "Sir? Sir?" A wet sort of gargling combined with painful grunts were her only answer. "John! Sherlock!" Her worried shriek filled the air as she called for their help. She laid the man on his side so he wouldn't choke on his own spit. "Sir. What happened to you? Stay calm, help is coming." She was rambling but honestly didn't know what to do with the twitching and grunting figure at her knees.

She steadied his shoulders and glanced up to see the two men hurrying towards her. A sudden movement caught her attention as the struggling man grabbed her wrist tightly with his shaking fingers. "Sir? Sir? Tell me what happened." The man didn't answer he pulled her closer and tried to speak, the words weren't understandable. Sherlock and John finally reached them and the doctor immediately fell to his knees.

"What happened?" "I. I. I don't know… I saw him fall down and when I got here he was already like this." She kept on staring at the man's hand, his knuckles had turned white as the force on her wrist increased. John was in the middle of trying to figure out what was going on with him when he let out an ear-piercing scream. The words were engulfed by the groans and screeches that came with them. The only thing she understood was _Lions mane_ but that couldn't have been right.

The stranger twitched a couple more times and clawed at his throat before finally falling quiet, his hazel eyes staring emptily up to the sky, his face still contorted in pure agony. John turned him on his back and started to do compressions while Sherlock told the phone operator what had happened. He must have called him during the struggle. The doctor tried to give mouth to mouth but the man had bitten right through his tongue and the blood was starting to come from his lips.

But John didn't stop trying as she watch helplessly. The grip on her wrist had slackened and his hand lay in the sand unmoving. A pair of hands took her shoulders and softly pulled her away from the dead man. "Elizabeth, are you okay?" Her eyes were still glued on John pushing his hand down on the man's chest, the way his body moved with the movements. Sherlock grabbed her cheek and directed her gaze to his face. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"

She swallowed hardly and shook her head to clear her mind. "Yes, I am okay. I think. I am not sure." He pulled her into a hug and stroked her wet hair softly. She wasn't in any sort of distress but it was comforting to have someone this close to her, she only wished she was still wearing her necklace. With her head resting on his chest she could feel the tenseness in his muscles and realised that he was already piecing together what had happened. She heard a grunt from John. "We are too late." Her shoulders sunk down and she pulled away from the detectives embrace turning to the dead man.

John quickly scanned her and glanced to Sherlock, when the other man nodded he allowed himself to relax. He got up and put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, keeping her from going to the body. It was time for Sherlock to have his chance. They watched him look over the man's features, checking the pockets and taking of his boots. John let out a small gasp as Sherlock turned the body over and took of his jacket.

* * *

 **Chapter 41**

* * *

On the man's back were long red strips that resembled Elizabeth's scars just too much to be comfortable. John felt the teen tens up underneath his hand and took a step closer. "Let's move away." "No." "Elizabeth." "I want to see." He cursed slightly and stayed still. "They look like they have been made with a long and flexible object. Ugh, I wish I had brought my spy glass." The detective muttered. "There is only so much I can tell without my cit." "Didn't you bring it?" "John wouldn't let me." He huffed annoyingly. "Well I didn't know we were going to come across a dead body."

With a sigh the detective continued until finally they heard the sound of sirens. The medics came around and after taking their statements made them leave the scene, telling them to go back home. Judging by the look on Sherlock's face though, that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

So they gathered their clothes and went to a nearby hostel to rent a room. Though John thought they should just leave it alone, Sherlock was already invested and Elizabeth was incredibly curious to see them work, so he was outvoted. Once in the room Sherlock took out a phone. "I found this in the man's pocket." "Sherlock!" "What?" "You should have given it to the police!" The detective glanced annoyed at John and ignored him. "Is there anything interesting?" "As far as I can see only one recent text." "What does it say?" He handed her the phone. _J,_ she _knows. Meet me at 23 o clock at our spot. X_

"That sounds ominous enough." "Yes, but it does give us a clue. That plus Lions Mane…" "So you heard it too?" "Yes, it was the only thing I could understand from his groaning." "Sounded like some kind of a warning if you ask me." John added. Sherlock took the phone back and started to scroll through it, mumbling from time to time. "If he had any more texts from this number, he deleted them. I can't see any references to lion's mane."

"So what do you do now?" "Figure out who he is and what Lions mane might mean." With an exited smile she jumped up. "I'll look up Lion's mane!" she swore she could see a small smile tugging on Sherlock lips as she grabbed her phone. She had only just typed it in on google when he spoke again. "His name is Jared Graham." "How did you figure that out?" "His Facebook." John let out a quick laugh. "So far the only thing I found about Lions Mane are mushrooms." "Okay, keep on looking. Meanwhile we will go down to the bar and ask around."

She followed them downstairs and sat with them at the bar. When the bartender came Sherlock struck up a conversation with her about the beach. It didn't take long before he dropped the name. "I heard that some block was found dead one the beach just a little while. What was his name again?" "Jared something, I think. I am not sure." John shrugged.

"You don't mean Jared Graham do you?" "Yes that was it!" "Really? That poor man! Who would do such a thing?" "You were friends?" "Friendly." The woman's eyes had dropped and her shoulders drooped. "But he was such a kind fella. Marine Biologist, did everything he could to save the marine life at our coast! Never hurt a fly! I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt him." she hesitated for a second. "Except maybe if… No. Never mind."

"What is it?" "There was a rumour around town that he might. You know. Be a bit different." "Whatever do you mean?" Sherlock feigned ignorance, Elizabeth recognized the twitching of his fingers. He knew what she was going to say, and it pissed him off. "Well. He never showed any interest in the girls of this place. I never saw him look twice at anyone. Not even at Leyla, and that woman makes everyone's head turn! So some people started saying he might be looking at something else."

Her cheeks had gone red as her hair and she let out a little cough. "People thought he was gay." John pointed out the obvious making the detective sigh. "And that was a bad thing?" the words had slipped from my mouth before I could stop it, but the bartender didn't seem to mind. "Oh, I don't mind!" she said quickly, glancing at her two companies and her, a little nervouse. "But there are some people who disapprove deeply.

I've heard them talk about it when they have had a little too much to drink. Awful things I've heard of those men! But I can't imagine them actually doing anything! It's just drunken man talk." Sherlock frowned, but didn't ask any more questions. The redhead waited a couple of seconds before moving on to the next person, leaving them alone. "You think one of those men might have done it?" "Quite possible. Her explanation already explained part of the text."

"How?" a shudder of excitement went through Sherlock's frame, wanting to show off his skills and reasoning. "The text is very simple and short, to the point, and written so that only the receiver will really know what it is about. So we know that the two of them have some kind of relationship. The _X_ would indicate love, unless it was between two women it might be amicable. Men rarely send x at the end of their message. We already know that one of the participants was a male, so it is most likely a romantic relationship. The text was addressed to J, which most likely stands for Jared. Now we know that Jared would get the text, so why put the initial? It is most likely some kind of endearing term between the two of them. A woman is more likely to write sweetheart, darling, my love ect… J is a lot less obvious, it would also not be seen as a direct endearment in case someone else read it. So they want to keep their relationship quiet. In conclusion, the rumours are true."

I must admit, my mouth might have been hanging slightly open at the reasoning. Though there seemed to be a little bit too much speculation, it did seem right. "Okay. So what about the rest of the text _she knows_?" "Someone must have figured out that the two of them were together, a woman that they were both making an effort to hide it from." I rolled my eyes that much I had figured out myself. "Do you think she, whoever she might be, could have done this?"

John shook his head. "Jared might be a little bit on the older side but he was particularity strong. Statically it would have been nearly impossible for one woman to do this. Maybe if she had someone to help her, they might have been able to subdue her." "Tsh! Speculation John! Never a good idea." "It was a deduction!" "It is only a deduction if I do it." Elizabeth let out a loud laugh. "I looked up some more about Lions Mane and I can't find any restaurants, hotels, or anything else named anything similar." John nodded pensively while Sherlock waved over the bartender again.

"I am terribly sorry to bother you again." he looked down at his lap before taking Johns had in his. The doctor looked at him in surprise, but didn't protest. "I was wondering if you could tell us who these men were. You know, to be safe." He glanced at Elizabeth who tried her best to look worried. The woman looked to the locked fingers and at her before quickly answering. "Of course! Don't worry about it." she glanced around the bar and her eyes fixed on a couple of men sitting in the back.

Sherlock glanced back quickly before squeezing Johns hand tightly. "Those are the men." She whispered. "The one closest to use is Barry Jason. He has a big mouth but his back is rubbish. He can't harm you, but his buddies might. The woman to his right is his wife Nancy. She is a bitch but I reckon she won't dare to lay a finger on you. It Marcus Fran you need to look out for." Elizabeth dared a quick look at the group and immediately understood what she meant. The man she was talking about was at least a head taller than Sherlock and was pure muscle, he could do some damage.

She couldn't help a shiver from running down her spine as she imagined him holding poor Jared down in the sand. Sherlock nodded politely. "Thank you very much for your help." He placed some money down on the counter and was about to leave, but stopped when he heard her gasp. A man had just walked in, maybe 40, 50 years old and he looked like he had gone through hell.

"That is Ian Smith." Her voice was hushed as the man sat down a little further from them. The man was classically handsome, even for his age. Tall, well build, a sharp face with big blue eyes and hair that had probably been like spun gold but now had silver mingled with it. "He had Jared did not get along." Before they could ask for more details she walked over to him. "What can I get you Mr Smith?" "Whiskey on the rocks." His voice was rough, and when he looked up she could see his bloodshot eyes. He had been crying.

"What has gotten you down?" she asked before placing down the glass. "Problems with Emilia." He grunted in return, clearly not wanting to elaborate, but she didn't give up. "Really? What about?" "Nothing that would interest you." It came out as a low growl, the bartender put up her hands in surrender and walked away. Clearly something about the conversation had peaked Sherlock's interest, so he dropped Johns had and turned to the Ian.

"You heard the news yet?" With tired eyes he looked up at them but didn't say anything. "They found a body." the man's face went rigged, all emotions disappearing. "A man, on the beach. What was his name again, dear." Elizabeth's eyebrows rose up at the term, but John joined the charade. "Jared something. If my memory serves me right." he sent a loving smile at Sherlock. "Honey, I don't think the man wants to talk. Leave him be would you." Though part of Elizabeth's brain was trying to wrap her head around the entire dear and honey affair between the two men, the other part was fixed on Ian's face.

At the mention of the name Jared his mask fell for just a split second and she saw the agonizing sadness hidden in those eyes, at the mention of Honey and Dear there was a certain longing and defeat on his face. Everything clicked, he had send the text. He had loved Jared. It had been his wife that had found out. She stifled a muffled gasp as the realisation set in. She was yanked out of her train of thought as John took her hand and led her outside. "He is!" "Yes. "His wife!" "Yes." "You two?" "No." Sherlock had clearly come to the same conclusion. "I suggest we go and visit this Emilia Smith."

Sherlock pulled out his phone, probably searching for the address as she started to look around. Noticing an older lady sitting on a bench she walked over to her. "Terribly sorry to disturb you mam, but do you know where Mss Smith lives? I seem to have misplaced the address." The woman smiled kindly at her. "Of course sweetheart. She lives at (insert your own favorite address. Let your creativity flow. Make it 42 Wallaby Way for all I care. )

She turned to Sherlock with a proud smile, he ruffled her hair before they took off to the address.

* * *

 **A/N:** This is my first attempt to a case. Please feel free to give me some feedback! For those who've read the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arhtur Donan Coyle probably already know where this is heading. If you don't want to spoil the surprise don't look up **Lions Mane,** the actual results will show you what happened to poor Mr Jared Graham. Anyway I hope you like it! Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14 - Some down time

**A/N:** I would like to thank everyone who has left a comment on my fanfiction! It means so much to me and it gives me so much joy! Especially _Sherlocked86, Pallysdeeks, LaurenB16, Anna and Bethany._ You guys have left several comments and it means so much to me! So these chapters are dedicated to you! Love you guys so much!

* * *

 **Chapter 42**

* * *

As they made their way to the home of Emilia and Ian Smith John started to wonder. "Something doesn't add up." "What?" "Well, if these two men were indeed in some way involved, why would the bartender think they don't get along?" Before Sherlock could answer Elizabeth threw in her theory. "It would be a good cover story. If everyone thinks you two dislike each other they won't consider them liking each other. Let alone loving each other. It is probably some kind of cover."

John nodded. "I suppose so yes. But if Ian is gay, why did he marry a woman?" "He might not be. Maybe he is bisexual, maybe he didn't know that being gay alright, or maybe he didn't even know something like that was possible and tricked himself into loving this Emilia. It is just possible that Jared sparked something in him, making him aware of his feelings."

The conversation fell silent as they reached a little bungalow at the base of a cliff. Sherlock knocked sharply and straightened his back. Elizabeth realised that she had no clue about the next step as she heard the hurrying steps and the unlocking of the door. "Hello, can I help you?" The woman in the doorway was definitely a beauty. Her dark hair ran all the way to her hips, red lipstick accentuated her plump lips, a white shirt and a pair of simple shorts clung to her curves. She was slightly smaller than Elizabeth and kept the door between herself and the three strangers.

"Police, we would like to ask you a few question." Sherlock spoke without hesitation while pulling out a badge, John followed his example. Elizabeth was pretty sure she recognized Lestrade and Anderson in the pictures. "What about her?" "She is a trainee, here for observation. She doesn't have a badge yet. Can we please come in?" Emilia hesitated a little while, her chocolate brown eyes scanning Elizabeth.

"You look a little young." Throwing on her biggest smile and straightening her back, she responded. "Thank you! I skipped a couple of classes and am one of the youngest members of the department." Still a little suspicious but convinced the door was swung open and she lead them into the sitting room. "Can I give you something? Water, tea, coffee?" John shook his head. "Thank you mam but we would like to get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Alright. Ask away officers." "Do you know a Jared Graham?" The friendly smile that had been plaster on the woman's lips disappeared from her face and furry flashed over her face. It was only there for a second but she saw it, and she knew the other men had too. "I know him yes. A marine biologist, he lives just outside of town."

"What is your relationship with him?" the woman shifted uncomfortably. "Not really well. You see my husband" she said the word with unnecessary hardness. "doesn't get along with him, so neither do I. Can I ask what this is about?" "I am sure you know about the resent developments involving Mr Graham." This seemed to peak her interest. "I am sorry, I haven't been informed." "He was found dead on the beach earlier today." Emilia's eyes grew two sizes and the shock wasn't something manufactured. "What happened?" "We suspect murder."

The woman covered her mouth with her hand and sank deeper into the sofa. "Impossible." "I am afraid so." "No one would hurt anyone in this town! Let alone murder!" she hesitated for a second. "Wait! Do you think I have something to do with this?" "Not to worry mam, we are merely asking around to see if someone knows anything. You are not a suspect." Sherlock reassured her with a sympathetic smile. "Do you know someone who might have wanted to hurt him?"

"No. He was pretty well liked. I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt him! Let alone murder him!" "Okay, thank you very much for your time." The detective rose and they followed him to the door. "Good day mam." But the door fell closed before they could say anything else.

"She had nothing to do with it." John concluded. "That was real surprise and horror. I don't believe she would have actually hurt him." "Agreed. She might have found out about the relationship, she seemed angry enough when we mentioned him, but she had nothing to do with his death." "Now what?" "Now we go back to the bar and are going to test a different theory." "What?" "I am going to find of if Mr Marcus Fran had anything to do with it." He glanced at John, who nodded thoughtfully. They clearly seemed to have a plan but she was left out of it.

"Elizabeth, you need to stay out of the way. No matter what happens, we can handle ourselves." "What do you mean?" nervousness filled her as the got closer to the bar, she had the sneaking suspicion that they get themselves hurt. She couldn't do anything about it though as they had reached the bar. "Go in first and go sit at the bar, but don't do anything. Promise me." John held her shoulder and his eyes bore into hers. "But what if." "Elizabeth." His voice had gone strangely stern. "Okay, fine. I promise."

She grunted before walking in and sitting at the bar. The redheaded bartender immediately walked towards her. "Where are your dads?" Elizabeth nearly chocked on laughter at the word. "They'll be here any second." She glanced around the bar and saw that Ian had left but that the group of homophobes were still sitting in the corner. Her heart leapt into her throat as the little bell of the door tinkled and in came Sherlock and John. Their arms were linked and they were laughing together, pulled closely into each other.

"What are they doing?" the bartender whispered in a shocked horror. "Marcus and his gang are still here, if they see." But it was too late as Sherlock drew their attention with a loud and joyful laugh, throwing his head back with delight. The scene would have been adorable if it hadn't been for the angry stares of the men. As the 'couple' walked towards the bar Barry yelled at them. "Fuck off you dirty faggs! We don't want your kind here!" John looked over in faked surprise and horror before quickly glancing at Elizabeth. Sherlock however had taken a more protective stance, shielding John with his own body and facing the bullies.

"Mind your own business! We aren't doing anything wrong." He hissed at them, holding eye contact with the seated man. "Like hell you aren't! You are committing a sin! You'll burn in hell for your acts!" Sherlock seemed like he was about to yell back but John tugged his arm. "Let's just go. They aren't worth it." "No!" Sherlock continued. "I won't let them shame us just because we love someone! I won't tolerate it!" Marcus got up from his seat.

"It is unnatural and we don't need to see any of your disgusting behaviour! Leave this bar or I'll make you regret it!" "We have just as much right to being here as you do!" Sherlock retorted before pulling John with him to the bar, taking a seat a couple of stools away from her. Furious at the lack of respect Marcus stocked over to them and Elizabeth held her breathe. "I said. Get. Out. Now." Sherlock glared back at him. "What if I don't." he was still holding Johns hand.

A horrible grin grew on Marcus' face. "I will beat the shit out of you." "The way you beat the shit out of Jared? The way you beat him to death?" Marcus took a step back in horror. "What! I never lay a finger on that man!" he cried out. "Yeah right! You thought he was gay didn't you! You thought he was an abomination! So you beat the shit out of him! Till he fell dead on the sand!"

The man looked around the room looking for some kind of help. "I never touched him! I would never have actually hurt him! I. I just sometimes. I never." The rest of the bar had gone quiet in horror and was staring at him. Flustered he turned to his group. "Let's get out of here." He mumbled.

Sherlock glared at them till they were out of the room till he let his shoulders relax and let go of John. "What do you think you were doing!" the redhead sounded absolutely horrified as she rushed over to them. "A calculated risk. Come on Elizabeth, we are going home." she quickly followed them as they gathered their stuff and hailed a cab. "What was that about?" "The only real other suspect was Marcus so we had to see how far he would go. But he didn't even lay a finger on us and the thought alone of beating Jared terrified him. He could have never done it."

"So who did it?" "I don't know. Yet." Elizabeth let out a huff. "Maybe it was just the sea. Some kind of evil sea spirit that beat him to death. Neither of them even bothered with an answer. The drive back was one in silence, both John and Sherlock seemed to be thinking the case over. Elizabeth herself was stumbled as she tried to go over the facts like Sherlock had thought her.

She had seen the man stumble before he fell onto the ground. The man had been dressed in an overcoat, a pair of shorts and one shoe. He seemed like he had been in the process of dressing himself but the pain had been too much to handle. He had been in pure agony, not able to breath or talk, screeching. The lashes on his back had been familiar, long red marks running down his back over his shoulders and around his ribs. Though they did seem a little different then hers, she hadn't been able to look at them for very long but they hadn't been simple long lines, she was rather sure there had been dotes.

Then there was his cry. Lion's mane… It must have been some kind of mad man's delusion, but it had been so clear and so precise. The horror in his eyes when he screeched it. It must have meant something, anything! But she couldn't make anything out of it, and the text had been a dead end. She wondered why Sherlock hadn't just confronted Ian with his affaire, it might have given them some answers. She didn't dare ask, he was deep inside of his concentration. So she held her tongue.

When they arrived at their flat Sherlock dropped down on the sofa and sat there thinking while they went into the kitchen to get some tea. "So, what do you think Doctor Watson?" John grimaced, honestly I don't know what could have happened. It is a mystery." "Hey, did you notice the marks on his backs." "John raised his eye browns. "I mean did you see something strange. They had like little dots or something." "Maybe it wasn't a normal whip. Or maybe it wasn't a whip at all. To be honest I didn't get a close enough look to see them clearly."

"Those damn sea demons." She said with faked anger. "Always so mysterious." John let out a laugh and grabbed a cup of tea and brought it to Sherlock. "What is so funny?" he murmured. "Nothing just a little joke. Elizabeth suspects sea demons." John let out a little pleased smile. At first Sherlock just smiled faintly and reached for the cup, but his hands stopped mid reach. "Sherlock?" the detective suddenly leaped up. "Your phone! Give me your phone!" John was mildly surprised but handed him his cell.

Exited Sherlock started to type on it leaving John standing with his cup of tea. Elizabeth wandered out of the kitchen. "What is the commotion about?" "Sea demons!" Sherlock cried. "I didn't even consider it seeing as he was mostly clothed and barley wet! Why would it be anything from the sea! Stupid Sherlock! I knew I saw something on the beach!" "What are you on about?" Sherlock flipped the phone and showed them a picture of a beautiful but horrible creature.

A jellyfish.

A big one at that. It had a sickish yellow body with long golden tentacles mixed with the occasional silver one hanging down. The tentacles looked like they could be at least 30 meters long. "Cyanea capillata also known as the Lion's mane Jellyfish. A monster of the sea! The biggest specimen was bigger than a normal blue whale! Truly beautifully and normally a human doesn't die from the sting, it just hurts like a motherfucker. But if Mr Graham had a heart defect it might have send him over the edge! They normally don't come to the English coast. This one must have drifted off! I think it ended up in one of the little pools!

I remember seeing a towel lying on a bed of rocks underneath a cliff ledge, there was a small pool there. The jellyfish must have gotten stuck there during ebb. Jared probably didn't see it in the darkened water till it was too late!"

Sherlock seemed enormously proud of himself. "The text was just a stupid coincident! It didn't have anything to do with his death! I need to warn the police! Someone else might go swim in these waters and meet the horrible animal!" He dialled the number with the excitement of a child during Christmas morning. "Hello, this is Sherlock Holmes." He rolled his eyes with impatiently at the responds. "Yes, that Sherlock Holmes. How many do you think there are? Anyway, I am calling on behave of the Jared Graham case. It isn't what it seems."

"Yes, my companions and I were the ones who reported it in. Now listen to me because several people are still in danger. Jared Graham was not murdered." He announced. To Elizabeth's surprise his face fell at the answer. "Yes. The lion's mane. How did you?" the detective grunted. "And you have found it? … Okay." He hung up and dropped onto the couch with a frown.

"What is it?" "They already knew." "What?" "They already knew it was the lion's mane jellyfish. They figured it out an hour ago." "But how?" "They examined the scar tissue and found residue, that plus the name made them figure it out. They then went looking for the pool he had gone into and tada. There it was, a beautiful specimen. They are releasing it into see, like Mr Graham would have wanted." Sherlock spoke with distain in his voice as he sulked in the chair.

"They knew." "Yes." "Al along." "Yes." "And we." "Yes!" he spat. For a second she was quiet before breaking out in laughter. "Omg! We ran around town! Looking for leads! You two risked getting beat up! And all for nothing!" "You don't need to rub it in Elizabeth!" "The first case I am official a part of and it isn't even a real one!" Sherlock glanced angrily at her. "Dear god! John you were right! It was an amazing idea to go to the beach!"

* * *

 **Chapter 43**

* * *

Sherlock was a little gloomy for the next couple of days, sulking in the couch. It didn't help that whenever she got the choice she'd bring it up. Sherlock talking to John about a deduction and how it wasn't that hard. Surely John could tell that that man had a cocker spaniel and a Great Dane! It was so obvious an officer could do it. She'd smile kindly before responding. "Yeah, they did." Before walking out of the room with a little smile.

It wasn't out of spite, it was just to bring him down a notch, and the detective was so cocky all the time. She had bought some peanut butter just to say "Hey did you know this was jelly?" (Okay maybe because it is also incredibly delicious) Making the man groan at her. But after a week or so she stopped and left him alone. She had other things to attend to, like school.

The end of the year was coming closer and soon she'd have exams. Though she had no problems at school, exams had always been notoriously difficult for her. Not because she didn't understand but because the pressure overwhelmed her.

This year she was feeling more confidante though. John had taught her several ways to deal with stress and Sherlock had helped her with clearing her mind. But still. In the end, she'd have to make the exam by herself. So soon enough she'd lock herself in her room and study till she dropped. Before that however she and her friends had decided to have one more stress less school less night. Over the last couple of months she had gotten pretty close with 5 amazing people.

You had Paige, a girl from her class who never treated her as a victim and was incredibly enthusiastic. She was from a Chinese background and followed every single modern stereo type. Was an amazing student who studied hard and always had good grades, she had strict parents and was obsessed with anime. But she also fitted British stereotypies. If she didn't have her tea and biscuits at 4 she'd be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. She was the most polite person and to top it all off, her accent. It was the typical British accent you heard on TV. A beautiful combination of nature and nurture come together. She was clearly Chinese, short black hair, a slightly darker skin tone with oval eyes. But she was also undeniably British.

There was also Kya who had caught her attention because of the little tattoo behind her ear. It was a simple cat climbing up her ear as if it was a scratch post but it was adorable. She had approached her shyly and asked about it, the girl had started to talk about it with great excitement, showing of another tattoo on the side of her foot, it was a tiny paper boat on some waves. It was incredibly simple but Elizabeth immediately wanted one like it. They got to know each other pretty well and she found out that the girl was obsessed with Supernatural and they immediately bounded about it too. Kya looked a bit like Charlie actually. Short red curls, cute little freckles and a ridicules happy smile. But a younger and slightly chubbier, and she was amazingly in shape, being a gymnast and all. But yeah that was Kya.

The last person she met in her class was Alex. He was a gigantic teen who was at least a head taller than her. His parents were from Nigerian so his skin was a dark brown, with hazel brown eyes with golden flaks. He was rather muscly and his face was classily handsome face with curly short black hair. Okay fine, she might have had a small crush in him. But he had a girlfriend so they had just become friends. Alex was rather laid back and was passionate about history, though he hated history lesson. He was incredibly funny and often corrected the history teacher or just added fun facts. He made the world a better place.

Now his girlfriend was equally awesome and her name was Eliana. Those two were known as the Ying Yang couple or the sun moon couple, because they were the exact opposite. Eliana was a small girl with chubby cheeks and long beautiful blond hair. It came all the way down to the hips and she often had different hair styles going from the regular ones to the strangest things she saw. She was incredibly sarcastic and ironic, always grunting at the teachers. She really didn't like school at all and spend all of the time drawing. They were often very dark but damn they were so funny. Plus she had a really cute wolf tattoo on her ear. She wished that she was in her class but they only shared a physic class.

And finally there was Ulf… The name was so strange and so was he, but he was awesome. He had bright blue hair and a couple of piercings in his ears and lips. He small then Alex but bigger than Elizabeth. He was incredibly into swimming and was actually really good. He often did competition and they went to it from time to time. She had met him during a lunch break, she had accidently dropped her pudding on him. She had been mortified but he had shrugged it off saying I could make it up by eating lunch with him. That had been a joke but she had been incredibly nervouse and had actually sat down with him. Ulf didn't have that many friends and neither had she so they were both equally socially awkward, which worked out pretty good seeing as they were still friends now.

She really wanted them to meet John and Sherlock but she was a little worried how it would turn out. All of them, and I mean all of them had some kind of problem and were rather sensitive about it. But I mean who was she to judge. However they had been begging to meet her guardians, not only because it was the famous Sherlock Holmes but because she loved them so much. So for this one time she had given in and asked them if she could have some friends over. They hadn't had a problem with it, so she had briefed them about her friends.

Sherlock had promised not to actually do anything unless they asked and if they did ask he wouldn't pull up the embarrassing stuff. So fingers crossed. They had given her the living room and she had covered the floor with blankets and pillows so they could lay down comfortably while watching movies. Everyone was bringing unhealthy but delicious food, so she would probably gain quite a bit of weight by the time this was all over. She had herself baked a cheese cake and brownies. Nothing was better than brownies.

And then it was time, her friends started to arrive. They all came in quick succession so she just ended up introducing them all at the same time. Her heart was fluttering with excitement as they walked up the stairs, but they had to stop because Mrs Hudson came out of nowhere. The woman smiled at them and gave them all a hug, offering to make some tea and bringing it up. She was surprised how nice and actually exited to meet her.

After a 5 minute talk they continued upstairs and she stuffed her 5 friends into the living room who immediately made themselves comfortable and pack out their food and pillows. Yes more pillows. Soon enough they heard people walk up the stairs and she recognized John's voice, she was pretty sure that he was warning Sherlock to be kind. And lo and behold the door opened and the two men walked into a room. John smiled kindly at her friends and introduced himself and Sherlock.

The taller man quickly scanned the room and frowned slightly before glancing at her worryingly. Ulf was the first to stand up and shook Johns hand and moved to Sherlock. It was pretty clear that Sherlock was trying not to say anything as they shook his hand back. The rest of her friends got up to shake their hands as well. Too no one's surprise it was Eliana who asked Sherlock to actually show his powers. Well not actually like that, it was more like. "So, Elizabeth's been kind of talking about the things you can do. So can you?" Sherlock raised his eyebrow and quickly looked at her for premision.

She nodded quickly. "Are you sure?" "I have nothing to hide." "Alright." She felt her heart flutter slightly at the grin spreading across his face. "You are the oldest of 4 children. You have two younger sisters and a younger brother. You feel the need to prove yourself to your family but never feel like you are good enough. You try to show your parents that you are special and different from your siblings but you grew up with the same interests so that doesn't work. So you started to feel depressed, you felt as if you are part of a group not a single thing.

You didn't feel like you are your own person and started to create several different personas for yourself. You chose characters you wanted to portray yourself as during your life. You eventually collapsed underneath the stress and ran away from home. You lived on the street for a while, but you eventually went back home and got therapy." The room had gone silent and she felt the need to strangle the life out of Sherlock. Eliana had only recently told them about it and it hadn't been easy, so for Sherlock to just put it all in the open wasn't something pleasant. She glanced at Eliana, to be honest she looked rather composed.

Though she could see that she was a little bit shaken. She coughed a little. "How did you. Uhm. How?" Sherlock seemed to realise that the girl was kind of uncomfortable, and looked to John. Who was glaring daggers at him. However Elizabeth nodded that he could continue. "It isn't all that difficult if you know what to look for. When you are the oldest of siblings, especially if you have several younger sibling you tend to carry yourself with a feeling of responsibility and confidence. You are used to having some authority over them and the need to care and protect them. When you walked into the room you made sure you were in front of the group. Together with Elizabeth and Ulf I might add.

The reason I know you have three younger siblings is because of the marks on your body. Your nails had just been done but you removed it before you went to school. If you had your nails had been done well you would have left it on, but you took it off so it must be bad. From what little Elizabeth told me about you and the way you are dressed I know you wouldn't just let anyone mess up your nails. Unless the person who did it was someone you cared about. The highest probability is a young girl seeing as they enjoy such activities more often. So a younger sister, probably 8 years old.

Then another sister around 14 years old who has just reached her puberty years and is making her own identity. This I know because of the rose perfume on you. It doesn't suit you in the slightly but it is all over you, so you were around someone who wore it. It is cheap and form Zara, a place mostly teenage girls go to buy. No one else here is wearing it so you came into contact with her in a different location. Ergo second sister.

Now your brother I found out because you have marker on your hands." The teen subconsciously put her hands behind her back. "They are clumsily and not drawn by yourself, you have several other marks of your own doing on your hand. So you drew with someone who really isn't coordinated. Another child. From the shaking of the marks and the insistence of just the two colours even though one is clearly almost empty indicates a very young child. Probably just 5 years old. Now a boy I deduced from the fact, not only is 4 girls a little unlikely but also by the fact that you have a blue sock with robots in your pockets. You probably found it in your bag and put it away so you could give it back later."

The kids were all equally shocked and surprised at the deductions, and even though he could still sense the disapproval over his deductions but there was a certain sense of pride in Elizabeth's eyes. Even Eliana seemed amused as she looked at him, though a little surprised. "Please continue." She said. "I am curious to find out more."

"Al right. If you are sure about this." The girl nodded again. "Okay. The reason I know that you were depressed is because of the stars on your wrists they are the typical self-harm scars. People only self-harm when they are depressed. They are all old so you have been feeling better for a long time now. Often when there are big families one of the children feel the need to prove themselves and sometimes that goes wrong.

You tried to be the confidante adult with your siblings, the kind and good daughter with your parents, in school you were the badass girl with sass and an attitude and in your volleyball theme you were the geeky girl with cute quirks. In the public you were a young and confidant lady but at home when you were private you were terrified and torn up. You didn't know what identity was really yours and you started to slip. In reflex you created more to protect yourself. The shy girl that didn't talk, the aggressive, ill-tempered teen you didn't want to approach. All these traits and probably several more are clearly visible in your posture and the way you talk and move around.

The more friendly and joyful sides I can see in your eyes, you clearly kept several of those traits as your eyes are light and happy. The responsibility I talked about before but it is a lot more pronounced in you then in the normal teen. The badass traits are in your clothes, though they are light and happy they are also short and thigh. They are made to draw attention but you don't wear it for other people you wear it for yourself and will get mad if someone judges you on them.

Which is in your right of course." The detective added hastily. "The more aggressive personalities are only a natural escalation to your problem and are visible in your humour. It is sarcastic, a little mean and blunt. I have to admit however I only know this because of Elizabeth.

You ran away because you didn't want to burden your family with your problems. I can see the faint outline of a knife in your pants and the backpack you are carrying is a sturdy one, waterproof and light. Your face is hardened and your eyes, though kind are critical and observant. These are all signs that you are prepared for something like being on the streets. And only someone who has been on the street would be prepared for that." "That is a rather big jump." Eliana said defensively. "True, but you didn't let me finish.

You have a tattoo behind your left ear. It is a rather minimalist tattoo of a wolf, only the lines necessary to show that it is a wolf. It is a rather new tattoo but if you'll let me I would like to confirm something."

All though she was a little hesitant she allowed him to step closer and tilt her head, his face only centimetres away from her skin, eyes fixed on the small tattoo. "Just as I thought." He said before moving back. Elizabeth noticed Eliana letting out a small shudder as she took a step away from the detective. "It is an expert tattoo, great penmen ship but it the ink is that typical from a man I know who lives in the ruffian areas of London. He rarely tattoo's anyone who isn't from the streets."

Alex let out an impressed whistle. "And of course you are back home and your mental health is about as good as it can get, so you had therapy. All by all it isn't that difficult." Her friends stared at Sherlock dumb founded. "You cannot be human." Exclaimed Kya. "You have to be like a wizard who can see into people's mind!" Sherlock let out an amused chuckle before promptly getting an elbow in the ribs from John. Whatever tension had been in the room after the deduction quickly evaporated as Eliana smiled brightly.

"That was completely extraordinary and rather creepy." "Did I get everything right?" "Almost. I do have 3 younger siblings but my 14 year old sister is in fact my 14 year old brother." Sherlock swore slightly and John let out a chuckle. "You are not good with siblings are you Sherlock?" he taunted the taller man, who simply glared back. Her friends shot her a questioning glance. "I'll explain later, but for now let me show you were the bathroom is and everything else."

The 6 of them descended down the stairs, leaving the two men alone in the pillow covered living room.

* * *

 **Chapter 44**

* * *

After a quick tour of the flat and a cup of tea with Mrs Hudson (which included several embarrassing stories about Sherlock and John but sadly also about her) the friends settled down in their little nest. They quickly popped in a movie and started to enjoy their cakes, cookies, chips and other unhealthy stuff. They were half way through the second movie (Disney marathon, first Mulan and now the hunchback of Notre dame) when Sherlock came back in.

John and Sherlock had gone out for dinner and then gone back to their rooms. She wondered if they were being too loud but honestly she didn't think so, plus the older man seemed perfectly content just watching them for a little while.

Sherlock s eyes quickly got fixed on the screen as he followed along with the movie. She glanced at her friends who all nodded at her with amused smiles. "If you want you can join us." She told him. "No thanks." "Why not?" "I am not interested in watching kid's movies with you." She let out a sigh. "You have been standing there for well over half an hour. Don't kid yourself." Paige let out a bark of laughter at the shocked face of the detective. He quickly scanned the room and let out a defeated sigh and dropped his pride. "Fine." He grumbled before sinking down in the sofa next to Ulf.

"I promise I won't spoil anything." he told her. "Oh don't worry, we have all seen these movies before." the man frowned. "Then why would you watch them again, there is no suspense." To everyone's surprise it was Ulf who answered. "For nostalgic sake. These are good movies, with amazing plots that we are familiar with. They bring back an innocent view of the world." Sherlock didn't look surprised. "Have you never watched them?" Kya asked curiously. "No, never saw the point in watching movies like this."

Fake horror rushed over her friends face. "The point? The point?" exclaimed Alex. "The point is happiness and the feeling of joy in your belly as the happy ending comes around!" "Plus they are part of your childhood! Everyone has seen at least one Disney movie!" Paige continued. Elizabeth didn't hide her grin as her friends started to plead their case as the detective.

The man had never really had a traditional childhood and she would have honestly been surprised to hear he had ever heard of The Lion King, let alone seen it. "So why watch it now?" Sherlock turned to Kya. "Elizabeth has shown me the simple pleasures of television. You all seemed to enjoy it, I was bored. I thought I might as well try."

She patted the man on the knee. "You won't regret it. Now everyone shut up so we can watch the movie." During the movie she often glanced at Sherlock. Every now and then he let out a grunt of disapproval at the illogicality's of the movie but he was clearly caught up with it. As the credits started to roll over the screen everyone turned to Sherlock. "So, what did you think?"

"It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be." Immediately her friends fell into a frenzy of why the movie was amazing and how he had clearly missed the crucial parts that made it so. He listened to them with quiet amusement, a twinkle in his eyes. She finally broke into the conversation "Okay Mr Wise Guy you pick the next movie." She said it while handing over the pile of cd's they had brought with them.

Sherlock rose an eyebrow at them but her friends all nodded in agreement. So with a sigh he started to look carefully at all of the cd cases. After a couple of minutes he finally handed over one of the cases, it was The Fox and the Hound. "Good choice." She commented as she put the movie in. "Oh god no, I always cry during this movie." They chuckled at Paige's sigh and started the movie. After 5 minutes Sherlock stopped them, "This movie is incredibly predictable." "What do you think will happen?" "The old woman will definitely have to give up the fox, the hound will hunt it, and they'll remember each other. A bunch of heart-breaking stuff in between. There will be a finale battle, but they'll get a common enemy and part ways."

"Correct, but it is still absolutely heart breaking, just you wait." So they continued the movie and she was happy to see that Sherlock actually did have a certain sadness in his eyes as the old lady said goodbye to Tod and how he looked relieved when Tod and Cooper didn't end up fighting. Though he never admitted it he was clearly moved by the movie. She had to force herself to keep quiet, she was scared that if she said anything he would hide in himself.

Instead she wordlessly handed him the pile of movies again. "Go ahead." He picked out. "Atlantis, The lost Empire." Elizabeth let out a delighted chuckle. "This is my favourite movie!" Sherlock smiled kindly. "I know." She huffed while scotching backwards till her back was pressed against the man's long legs. The movie played and she let out a satisfied smile. Halfway through the movie she jumped up in surprise as she felt long slender fingers running through her hair.

She tilted her head backwards and saw Sherlock staring at the TV, leaning forward, his hand distractingly playing with her hair. Once they finished Atlantis, they watched Pocahontas, then they watched Bambi, Peter Pan, The Lady and the Tramp, Fantasia, Merlin and Tangled. Eventually people started to fall asleep. The first one was Kya, she placed a pillow on Elizabeth's legs and made herself comfortable on her lap. Halfway through the centaur scene of Fantasia she lost herself.

After Tangled as they were getting ready for Zootopia, she heard the faint sound of snoring. She turned around and saw Ulf fast asleep on the couch. He had leaned over while he had been asleep and his blue curls pressed between Sherlock's shoulder and the kids head. The detective had his arm awkwardly slung over the couch, not to disturb him.

She smiled at Sherlock and he grinned awkwardly back at her. During Robin Hood Paige fell asleep, the rest managed to stay wake during The Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. However Paige fell asleep during Jungle Book, and Alex during Hercules. Eliana, Elizabeth and Sherlock managed to stay awake. When the sun started to rise a small flash filled the room. In the doorway stood John with a camera in his hand and a smile plastered on his face. "You all look adorable! I'll get you some breakfast."

The man took a couple of steps forward and snapped several other pictures of the group before heading to the kitchen. She looked over to her friends. "Should we wake them up?" "Probably a good idea." Eliana shook her boyfriend awake as Elizabeth occupied herself with waking up Kya and Paige. She went to wake up Ulf but Sherlock was already on the task. He rubbed Ulf's head and shook his shoulder. It was cute to see him act so careful around the teen. Ulf however didn't seem to realise that he was being woken up by Sherlock curled up into him.

He wrapped his arms around the man's torso and snuggled into his chest. "Good morning love." He said in a joking fashion. "Do you mind?" Immediately Ulf sat up, his cheeks flushing bright red as he let go of Sherlock. "Uh… Sorry." "It is quite alright. Now everyone get ready for breakfast please. John and Mrs Hudson are working on it."

They all stumbled up and freshened up, ready to go get breakfast. They had to eat on the floor seeing as the table wasn't big enough for all eight of them. At first it was a little awkward but it didn't take long for a conversation to get started all that needed to happen was John asking about the movies. All six of them started talking about the favourite movie and why they liked it so much. To their surprise Sherlock suddenly pipped in. "I liked Fantasia the most. The music, the art, all of it. It was good." They were silent first and then they started a discussion.

The breakfast was good and the company was even better. They talked for a couple of hours until finally they had to go home. She hugged her friend's goodbye pulling all of them close. Sherlock, John and Mrs Hudson all said goodbye and shook their hands. When Ulf come standing in front of Sherlock he did something curious, he grabbed the detectives hand and pulled Sherlock's closer giving him a quick hug. This wasn't unusual for Ulf. He often showed random bursts of affection to people, but they hadn't expected it to happen now. Once all five of them had gotten into the bus they went back upstairs.

"We'll I think that is something worth repeating." Sherlock said. She quickly hugged Sherlock and John. "Thank you for a great evening."

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 **A/N:** Please leave some feedback on these chapters! I wanted to try writing some character descriptions and deductions. I would really like to know what I could do better next time so I can improve my writing! Thank you anyway for reading!


	15. THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER! NOT A CHAPTER!

Dear lovely readers, sorry but this is not a chapter. I decided to start a second part of Choices called **Consequences**. The reason for this is because the story doesn't fit the summary anymore. It isn't just about Moriarty kidnapping Elizabeth, it has 'evolved' into a different story by now. However the story will still continue, though it will be a little more domestic from time to time. Don't worry though there **will still be a lot of angst.** I mean we haven't even gotten to Reichenbach yet. So please tune in to the next part of Choices!

Thank you for reading my story, it means the world to me! I hope you will like part two as well! Love you all!


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